K 


fclSlliP&l  HIS    Publication   dedicated   to 
i^lBlJIiiiEi     the    Bankers   of  America   by 


>''"i'-''\/'\'>'''c^'v 

Wells 
Fargo  & 
Company. 


BANKING 

Q) 


Y\^V.>1--NTK;,    ,^j. 


"Wells 
Fargo 
&  Co.s 
Express 


ArU^ 


BANKING 


Ancient  •  and  •  Modern 


<^ 


Proflskln'  Illustrated 


Portraits  of  Men  Prominent  in  Banking 

AND  en(;kavin(;s  of  some  of  the  principal 

r.ANKINC.   LNSTriLTIONS  OF  AMERICA, 

Intkrior  and  Exterior  Views  of  U.  S.  Treasury  Building, 
together  with   full  instructions  as  to  the  i5us1ness 

METHODS    OF    THE    TREASURY    DEPARTMENT 
AT    WASHINOToN.    D.    C. 


-1895 

BY 

WiLLARD  Forester  Warner 

Tkf.asikv  Dki'aktmkni  ,  Washinc.ton.  Y>.  C. 


^G'^ 


\>^ 


1>1 


FROM      fHESS    OF 


Lanward  Pub.  Co. 

Chicago 


JOHN   G.  CAULISJ,K, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  Wiisliiiiyton,  1).  C 


ii5(^>:>^j 


.lOHN   J.  VALENTINE. 
Prtsi.Ii'iit  Wills  FargK  A  Co.'s  liaiik,  Kan  Frniu'iseo,  Cal. 
President  Wells  Fiirj^o  &  Co.'h  Express,  Sun  Fnincisco,  Cal. 


BANKING 


ANCIENT  AND   MODERN- 


CHAPTER  I. 


ANCIENT      BANKING. 


BANKING    is   an    outgrowth    of    commerce.        In    its    most    primi- 
tive   form — money    changing — it    assumed    the    first    function   of 
banking  deiiandeci  by  the  times,  and  as  commerce  increased  between  man 

and  men  and  between 
country  and  countries, 
other  functions  devel- 
oped as  necessity  re- 
quired, until  to-day 
the  business  of  bank- 
ing occupies  a  proud 
position  among  the 
institutions  which 
have  contributed  to 
the  development  of 
the  world. 

The  modern  word 
bank  seems  to  have 
been  derived  from  the 
(lerman  word  "banck," 
which  was  introduced 
into  Italy  by  the  dom- 
inant Germans  in  the 
twelfth  century,  and 
became  Italianized  in- 
to the  word  "banco," 
which  was  used  inter- 
changeably with  the 
word  "monte,"  to  mean 
a  culltction  of  credit 
oi"  money. 

The  late  Cieorge 
.Smith,  during  his  re- 
searches among  the 
ruins  of  Babylon, 
found  tablets  which 
are  the  commercial  instruments  or  checks  and  notes  of  a  Babylonian 
banking  firm,  trading  under  the  name  of  the  founder,  I\gibi.  The  firm 
appc:irs  to   h.^ve  been   practically,  a  national   bank   of  Babylonia,  and  its 


LViMAN   J.  GAGK. 
I'resiclcnt  First  National  I'ank,  Chicago. 


115G27 


lO 


transactions  were  of  the  most  extensive  character,  Mr.  W.  St.  C. 
Boscawen  has  studied  these  tablets  closely  and  publishes  the  following 
information  concerning  them: 

"Sula,  son  of  Zirukin,  son  of  Egibi  appears  as  contracting  party  in 
the  third  year  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  continues  to  be  at  the  head  of  the 
firm  until  the  twenty-third  year  of  that  monarch.  In  the  fifteenth  year  of 
this  reign,  his  son  Nabuakhi-idin,  is  taken  into  the  firm  and  appears  in 
compan)-  with  his  father  as  contracting  party. 

"  The  tablets  give  us  a  complete  succession   of  annual  transaction.-^ 

from  the  first  of 

Nebuchadnezzar 

to  the  thirty- 
fifth  of  Darius. 
There  is  one  tab- 
let dated  in  the 
fourth  year  of 
Nabupal  u  zar 
(Nabopalassar); 
tablets  dated  in 
the  reign  of  this 
m  o  n  a  r  c  h  a  r  e 
very  rare.  By 
means  of  a  lunar 
eclipse  mention- 
ed by  Claudius 
Ptolem a e u s  as 
taking  place  in 
the  fifth  year  of 
Nab  opalassar, 
wc  are  enabled 
to  fix  the  date  of 
this  year  to  B.  C. 
621;  this  gives- 
B.  C.  625  as  the 
first  year  of  this 
monarch,  h^om 
this  date,  for 
more  than  a  cen- 
t  u  r\-,  this  bank- 
appears  to  have 
carried  on  its 
business  regularly,  but  in  the  month  .\bb  [the  eleventh  month,  or  July 
of  the  Jews. — Ed.]  11  C.  516,  the  revolt  ot  Aracus,  against  Darius  took 
place,  the  firm  of  Kgibi  was  unable  to  transact  any  business  owing  to  the 
revolt  at  Babylon,  and  the  iiistory  of  this  remarkable  bank  cannot  be 
traced  any  further." 

In  Greece,  moncN'-changers  formed  a  distinct  class  of  business  men 
as  early  as  the  fourth  centur)-  before  Christ.  It  was  their  custom  to  re- 
ceive money  from  depositors  and  to  loan  it  to  others  at  rates  of  interest 
varying  from  ten  to  thirty-six  per  cent.  A  portion  of  their  income  was 
derived  (torn  premiums  received  for  exchanging  coins  which   floated  to 


J.  J.  I'.  <iJ)i:li,. 

I'rcsideiil    Union    N.iti<in:il    l!;ink,   CliicuK". 


1 1 

Greece  from  other  countries.  I^^roni  Plutarch  it  is  learned  that  discount 
was  kn  >\vn  to  the  Athenians,  and  the  rate  of  discount  was  often  made  so 
excessix-e  as  to  brini^  some  money-chani^ers  into  disrepute.  This  was 
possible  under  the  Attic  law  which  permitted  every  lender  to  char<^e  as 
much  interest  as  he  chose. 

Money-changers  as  a  rule  maintained  a  high  credit  and  were  so  im- 
plicitly trusted  that  transactions  with  them  were  often  carried  out  without 
witnesses.  Of  the  best  known  of  these  primitive  bankers  was  Pasion, 
whose  profit  from  his  exchange  bank  was  one  hundred  minas  annually, 
equivalent  to  $1,710.  When  Pasion  died  the  bank  was  assumed  b\- 
Phormio,  who  paid  an  annual  rental  of  $2,730  for  the  office  and  business. 

Of  forms  of  business  more  nearly  approaching  the  state  banks  of 
later  times  we  are  not  without  examples  in  Greece.  At  New  Ilionabank 
seems  to  have  transacted  the  financial  business  of  the  state  in  the  third 
or  second  century  before  Christ,  paying  ten  per  cent  interest  on  money 
for  public  use. 

There  are  also  evidences  that  the  authorities  in  charge  of  the  temple 
of  Delos,  and  that  at  Delphi,  loaned  money  belonging  to  them,  but 
there  is  no  evidence  that  this  money  was  that  deposited  for  safe-keeping. 
In  Byzantium  a  precedent  for  giving  one  organization  the  entire  control 
of  the  banking  business  may  be  found,  where,  in  a  time  of  financial  em- 
barrassment, the  money-changing  business  was  farmed  out  to  a  single 
bank,  and  a  penalty  was  inflicted  for  buying  or  selling  money  elsewhere, 
the  penalty  being  no  less  severe  than  the  forfeiture  of  the  sums  bought 
or  sold. 

In  Rome  the  Decemvirate  made  stringent  laws  against  usury  in  the 
year  449  B.  C,  and  fixed  the  maximum  rate  of  interest  at  ten  per  cent. 
It  is  evident  that  such  a  law  was  called  forth  by  the  existence  of  the  oc- 
cupation of  money-lending.  In  346  B.  C,  the  rate  of  interest  was  low- 
ered to  five  per  cent,  and  in  341  B.  C,,  the  taking  of  interest  was  alto- 
gether forbidden,  but  the  law  being  inoperative,  interest  was  about  this 
period  established  at  one  per  cent  per  month. 

The  commerce  which  Rome  had  with  the  eastern  and  other  coun- 
tries, naturally  created  an  influx  of  foreign  coin,  necessitating,  as  in 
Greece,  the  class  known  as  mone)'-changers,  whose  stone  stalls  were 
located  along  both  sides  of  the  P^orum — the  Exchange  of  Rome.  While 
the  Romans  seemed  to  have  adopted  the  simple  methods  of  moneyed 
speculation  from  the  Greeks,  it  is  quite  generally  conceded  that  they  en- 
larged and  perfected  the  system  until  it  became  something  more  similar 
to  modern  banking  than  any  system  the  Greeks  had  known.  Indeed, 
Macleod  goes  so  far  as  to  state  that  banking,  as  a  technical  business,  was 
invented  b\-  the  Romans.  In  our  judgement  this  is  a  wrong  use  of  the 
term,  as  such  businesses  as  banking  are  but  simple  developments  made 
necessar\-  by  the  increasing  \'olume  of  financial  transactions,  and  while 
the  Romans  may  have  produced  some  business  forms  which  were  novel, 
it  is  not  correct  to  say  that  they  "invented"  banking. 

No  branch  of  Roman  commerce  was  more  vigorous!)-  prosecuted, 
according  to  Mommsen,  than  that  of  the  money-lender  and  money-dealer 
or  banker,  the  practice  of  pkicing  large  sums  of  money  with  a  banking 
agent,  who  received  and  made  payments,  invested  and  borrowed,  and 
conducted  financial  business  at  home  and  abroad,  being  fully  dexeloped 


12 


in  the  time  of  Cato — 209-149  B.  C.  With  the  activity  of  commerce 
which  Rome  enjoyed,  bankers  spreed  rapidly  throughout  the  provinces 
and  dependent  states. 

To  the  Htcrature  of  Rome  we  are  indebted  for  contemporaneous 
references  which  informs:  us  of  the  uses  of  banking  terms  still  in  use,  such 
as  "  checque,"  "drafts,"  etc. 

In  Italy  the  money-changers  were  established  at  a  v^ery  early  period 
of  the  middle  ages,  and  the  city  of  Florence  became  a  recognized  mone- 
tary center.  As  early  as  as  the  first  quarter  of  the  eleventh  century, 
Florentine  citizens  loaned    money  to    soverign   princes.       In    1265    the 

money-changers  of  that 
city  formed  themselves 
into  a  guild.  It  is  prob- 
able that  the  business  of 
the  money-changers  even 
at  that  early  day  was  ap- 
proaching the  character- 
istic feature  of  banking 
— the  dealing  in  credit, 
as  in  1300  the  Mozzi 
and  the  Spini  families 
are  mentioned  as  being 
the  bankers  of  Popes,  and 
the  last  named  as  having 
a  branch  at  Rome  under 
the  management  of  Nero 
Cambi.  By  1378  bank- 
ing operations  in  Italy 
had  attained  great  im- 
portance, due  to  the 
necessary  transmission 
of  money  from  distant 
parts  of  Europe  to  the 
Popes'  court  at  Rome 
and  Avignon,  and  most 
of  the  banking  business 
was  in  the  hands  of 
Florentine  citizens.  The 
Strozzi  were  in  later 
years,  15 13  to  1534, 
bankers  to  Leo  X  and 
Clement  VII,  accumula- 
ting wealth  by  their  sagacity  which  is  still  enjoyed  b\'  their  descendants, 
about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  famous  banking  house  of 
the  Alberti  had  counters  in  Avignon,  Bruges,  Brussells,  Paris,  Siena, 
Perugia,  Rome,  Naples,  Barletta  and  Venice.  Still  greater  than  the 
Alberti  were  the  Peruzzi  and  their  associates,  the  Bardi.  In  1346  the 
failure  of  ICdward  III,  of  l^ngland,  to  pay  1,365,000  golden  florins,  bor- 
rowed of  the  Morentine  bankers,  caused  a  bankruptcy  which  seriously 
disturbed  the  entire  commercial  system  of  luu'ope.  Later  the  Strozzi 
suffered  serious  losses  by  the  king  of  France  and  the  popes,  but'  in  spite 


K.  S.   LACKN. 
Presiilciit   Hankers'   National   Hank,  Chicago. 


13 


of  these  losses  the  Florentine  bankers  regained  their  wealth  through 
their  lucrative  business.  From  1414  to  1423  times  were  prosperous  in 
Florence,  and  at  that  period  seventy-two  banks  could  be  counted  in  the 
streets  surrounding  the  Mercato  Nuovo.  From  1430  to  1433,  seventy- 
six  bankers  lent  the  State  4,865,000  gold  florins,  but,  although  there 
were  said  to  be  eighty  bankers  in  Florence  at  one  time,  there  was  no 
public  bank. 

Mr.  Henry  Mann  attributes  the  invention  of  bank  notes  to  the  re- 
public of  Carthage,  but  his  testimony  is  not  conclusive  enough,  being 
based  on   this   statement  of  .Eschines,  the  Socratic  philosopher;  "In  a 

small  piece  of  leather  is 
wrapped  a  substance  of 
the  size  of  a  piece  of  four 
drachms,  but  what  this 
substance  is  no  one 
knows  except  the  maker. 
After  this  it  is  sealed 
and  issued  for  circula- 
tion; and  he  who  pos- 
sesses the  most  of  this  is 
regarded  as  having  the 
most  money  and  as  be- 
ing the  wealthiest  man." 
Jevons  shows  that  leather 
was  one  of  the  earliest  of 
circulating  mediums, and 
was  used  without  regard 
to  any  system  of  banking. 
As  early  as  807,  A. 
D.,  the  Chinese  are  cred- 
ited with  the  invention 
of  the  bank  note.  In 
that  year  the  emperor 
exchanged  all  the  money 
deposited  in  the  public 
treasur}'  by  merchants 
and  rich  persons  for 
notes,  termed  "flying 
money."  It  remained 
in  circulation  but  three 
years  in  the  capital,  and 
became  current  only  in  the  provinces. 

In  960,  A.  D.,  an  emperor  revived  the  practice  of  giving  notes  for 
money  deposited  by  merchants,  and  so  great  was  the  convenience  of  the 
notes  that  their  circulation  increased  rapidly.  In  997,  A.  D.,  there  had 
been  1,700,000  ounces  of  silver  exchanged  for  paper,  while  in  102  i  the 
paper  in  circulation  had  increased  to  the  value  of  2,830,000  ounces.  A 
companj-  of  sixteen  rich  merchants  was  then  formed  which  was  allowed 
to  issue  notes,  payable  in  three  years.  The  company  was  bankrupt 
upon  the  expiration  of  that  time,  and  much  suffering  was  caused  by  its 
failure  to  pay.     The  emperor  then  abolished  the  notes  of  this  company 


HKR.MAN    KOLNTZE. 
President   First  National   BanV:,  Omaha,   Nebraska 


'4 

and  prevented  the  formation  of  other  joint-stock  companies.  After  that 
the  government  only  possessed  the  power  to  issue  notes,  which  were 
made  of  the  value  of  one  ounce  of  silver.  In  1032  these  notes  were 
circulating  to  the  value  of  5,256,340  ounces.  Banks  of  this  nature  were 
subsequently  established  in  every  province,  but  the  notes  did  not  have 
inter-provincal  circulation.  To  these  notes,  exchangeable  for,  and  con- 
vertible into  money,  is  given  the  credit  for  being  the  first  on  record. 


CHAPTER   II. 

EARLY      BANKING. 

In  1401  the  "Tabla  de  Cambi"  (Table  of  Exchange),  was  estab- 
lished at  Barcelona,  Spain.  The  city  funds  were  its  guarantee,  and  it 
was  established  by  the  city  authorities  as  an  aid  to  commerce.  Foreign 
bills  of  exchange  were  negotiated  in  it,  and  a  loan  business  was  carried 
on.  It  seems  to  hav^e  been  the  result  of  the  assumption  by  the  city  of 
banking  privileges  which  had  been  granted  the  cloth  merchants  in  I360. 

In  1 78 1  the  bank  of  San  Carlos  was  established  at  Madrid,  as  a 
national  bank  on  a  plan  advanced  by  the  minister  of  finance.  Its  capital 
cc'^'^isted  of  300,000,000  reals,  divided  into  150,000  shares.  Profitable 
contract::,  with  the  government  were  secured  and  enjoyed  until  1785, 
when  they  wc/?  taken  away. 

Bills  of  exctiang,"'"  followed  what  were  termed  "assignments."  Au- 
thorities differ  as  to  the  date  of  their  first  use.  By  some  they  are  ascribed 
to  Lyons,  France.  Weber  states  that  they  were  in  use  in  1171.  Among 
the  earliest  ones  preserved  to  the  present  time,  are  those  issued  from 
Milan  on  Lucca  in  1325,  from  Bruges  on  Barcelona  in  1404,  and  from 
Bologna  on  Venice  in  1381.  To  the  Italians  we  are  indebted  for  man}- 
of  the  technical  terms  used  in  banking,  such  as  drafts,  remittances,  cur- 
rency, sight,  usance  and  discount. 

The  first  public  bank  in  Italy  was  that  established  at  Naples  in  i  565. 
There  had  been  sixty  great  bankers  in  Naples,  but,  notwithstanding  they 
were  obliged  to  deposit  40,000  ducats  with  the  government  as  security, 
they  frequently  failed  and  caused  great  distress.  On  this  account  the 
government  decided  to  establish  a  public  bank  to  be  know  n  as  the  Banco 
di  A.  G.  P.  et  di  Picta.  Following  this,  several  joint-banks  were  estab- 
lished— as  the  Banco  del  Popolo,  in  1589;  the  Banco  dcllo  San/o  S/^irito, 
in  1591;  the  Banco  di  S,  Eligio,  in  1596;  the  Banco  di  S.  Giaconio,  in 
1597;  the  Banco  delle  Povere,  in  1600,  and  the  Banco  dc  SS.  Saivatore, 
in  1604.  The  private  bankers  were  not  able  to  withstand  competition 
with  the  joint-stock  companies  and  none  survived  after  the  last  named  date. 

l^'oUowing  closely  after  the  establishment  and  growth  of  banking  in 
Morence,  the  Bank  of  Venice  was  established.  Nearly  all  writers  place 
the  date  of  the  organization  of  this  famous  institution  at  1171,  but 
Macleod  has  pointed  out  that  it  was  not  organized  until  1587.  The  con- 
fusion has  arisen  because  of  the  fact  that  in  1171,  the  X'enetian  re- 
public, to  meet  financial  necessities,  levied  a  forced  loan,  bearing  four  per 
cent  interest,  with  transferable  stock,  and  managed  b}'  commissioners  ap- 
pointed in  I  173.     The  loan  was  called  the  ni07ite  vecchio,  and  two  similar 


15 

ones  fallowing  it.  were  termed  uiontc  niioj'o  and  inontc  nuovissimo.  The 
word  nioiitc  has  been  translated  bank,  and  thus  these  public  debts  have 
been  termed  banks,  while,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  public  debt  commis- 
sioners exercised  no  functions  resembling  banking. 

The  first  bankers  in  Venice  were  two  Jews  who  established  them- 
selves in  1400.  Their  success  attracted  other  persons  (particularly  mem- 
bers of  the  nobility,)  into  the  business,  but  the  usual  failures  followed 
until  in  1587  the  senate  prohibited  the  nobility  from  entering  the  busi- 
ness, and  established  the  Bank  of  Venice. 

Merchants  were  invited  to  deposit  their  money  in  an  office  managed 
be  the  commissioners  of  public  debt,  for  which  they  received  credit  on 
the  bank's  books.  This  credit  was  transferable  and  payable  in  bullion  on 
demand.  An  act  was  passed  requiring  all  bills  on  Venice  to  be  paid  in 
bank  money,  which  gave  it  a  premium  of  about  nine  percent.  The  bank 
transacted  no  business  on  its  own  account,  but  the  money  in  its  vaults 
was  taken  on  various  pretexts  by  the  State,  and  in  1678,  in  1691,  and 
again  from  1717  to  1739,  it  suspended  payments.  An  attempt  was  made 
to  raise  a  loan  by  creating  credits  on  the  bank's  books,  but  the  credits 
fell  to  a  discount  of  twenty  per  cent  as  compared  with  specie,  and  the 
Government  mortgaged  a  part  of  its  revenue  to  collect  a  fund  of  "real 
current  specie"  with  which  to  purchase  these  transfer  credits,  b}'  which 
means  their  par  value  was  restored. 

The  bank  of  St.  George,  in  Genoa,  occupied  a  most  prominent  posi- 
tion among  the  early  influences  which  aided  commercial  development. 
As  in  the  case  of  the  Bank  of  Venice,  however,  most  historians  ascribe 
its  establishment  to  a  much  early  date. 

It  was  in  I  1 48  that  the  Genoese  Government  incurred  its  first  formal 
debt.  The  creditors  chose  from  their  number  a  council  to  watch  over 
the  debt  due  them  and  to  secure  its  collection,  the  Gox-ernment  having 
conceded  certain  customs  duties  for  a  term  of  years  in  payment  of  the 
debt.  Each  one  hundred  francs  of  the  debt  was  a  share,  and  each  creditor 
a  share-holder.  In  this  manner  were  numerous  loans  made  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, each  loan  being  termed  a  "compera"  and  all  the  loans  collec- 
itvely  bjing  known  as  the  "Compere  of  St.  George."  In  1252  these 
loans  bejane  so  numerous  as  to  recjuire  consolidation  under  one  head, 
with  a  chancellor  in  charge.  In  1302,  so  great  had  become  the  national 
debt,  stringent  regulations  were  enacted  by  which  no  future  loan  could 
be  effected  without  the  consent  of  the  representatives  of  the  existing  cred- 
itors. In  1339  a  popular  revolution  occurred  at  which  all  the  old  books 
of  the  "compere"  were  burned,  and  a  new  regulation  conmiission  was 
appointed.  This  has  been  mentioned  as  that  of  the  origin  of  the  bank, 
but  it  was  simph-  a  step  further  in  consolidating  the  national  debt. 

In  1371  is  recorded,  in  connection  with  the  Bank  of  Genoa,  the  first 
known  instance  of  the  compounding  of  intere.st.  Francesco  Vivaldi  ga\e 
his  shares  in  the  Compere  of  St.  George  to  the  compere,  the  interest  on 
them  to  be  annually  applied  to  the  purchase  of  other  shares,  until  a  sum 
should  be  collected  in  addition  to  the  principal,  which  should  be  suffici- 
ent to  pay  off  one  of  the  specific  loans.  This  done,  the  process  should 
be  repeated.  Others  followed  in  VHxaldi's  steps,  and  the  credit  of  the 
compere  grew  apace. 

In  1407  wars  had  so  pressed  the  State  into  seeking  money  advances 


i6 


tlwt  an  entire  reorganization  was  decided  upon.  Nine  men  drew  up  a 
plan  on  which  all  the  shares  were  reunited,  and  the  interest  for  all  was 
made  seven  per  cent.  New  officers  were  selected  and  the  organization 
renamed  the  Bank  of  St,  George.  It  possossed  peculiar  powers  of  self- 
government  entirely  independent  of  the  State,  and  in  this  year  a  new  con- 
stitution was  given  it,  under  the  provisions  of  which  eight  "protectors" 
were  elected,  each  of  whom  was  required  to  have  an  interest  in  the  bank 
of  not  less  than  one  thousand  florins.  These  directors  were  given  the 
offices  of  President,  Treasurer- General,  Superintender  of  the  sale  of  shares, 
three  Judges  and  two  Secretaries,  each   of  whom  remained  in  office  one 

year,  Over  these  was 
the  General  Council  of 
four  hundred  and  eighty, 
and  to  this  every  holder 
of  ten  or  more  shares, 
and  over  eighteen  }'ears 
of  age,  was  eligible.  In 
return  for  money  ad- 
vanced by  the  bank  to 
the  Government,  various 
colonies  and  provinces 
were  made  over  to  the 
bank  as  pledges  for  re- 
pa}'ment. 

In  1675  the  directors 
of  the  bank  saw  the  ne- 
cessity of  adopting  some 
more  convenient  meth- 
ods of  doing  business. 
The  old  title  of  "com- 
pere" then  disappeared, 
and  the  institution  be- 
came known  strictl}-  as 
a  bank.  It  is  from  this 
year  that  Macleod  as- 
cribes the  establishment 
of  the  Bankof  St.  Cieorge, 
because  it  first  adopted 
functions  of  modern 
banking,  such  as  the  ne- 
gotiation of  loans  and 
the  deposit  and  with- 
drawing of  uKMie}',  but  no  history  of  banking  would  be  complete  which 
failed  to  give  an  outline  of  the  fiscal  measures  from  whicli  modern 
banking  grew. 

In  1675  four  branches  were  established  in  different  parts  of  the  city. 
Later  the  invading  Austrian  army,  in  1746,  carried  awa)' most  of  the 
gold  belonging  to  the  bank,  serioush-  crippling  it,  but  in  a  "monte  of 
preservation,"  established  by  the  bank  in  I  750,  a  record  of  all  suspended 
payments  was  kept  and  they  were  paid  after  the  Austrians  left.  After  a 
time  the  people  came  to  see  that  the  complex  arrangement  b\'  which  the 


I'.  M.  CASADV. 
I'resi<lent   I>es  Moines  Savings  Bank,   Des  Moinus,   Ii 


17 


public  taxes  were  collected  and  retained  by  the  directors  of  the  bank,  was 
a  species  of  tyranny,  and  the  bank  was  obliged  to  surrender  its  privileges. 
As  these  were  its  sole  source  of  income,  the  bank  notes  were  found  value- 
less, and  the  bank  was  ignominiously  closed  about  1798.  I'Lfforts  to  re- 
establish it  were  made  in  1804  and  18 14,  but  they  were  entirely  unsuc- 
cessful. 

In  1609  the  Bank  of  Amsterdam  was  established  under  a  guarantee 
given  by  the  city.  The  causes  which  led  the  creation  of  this  bank  were 
far  different  rrom  those  which  caused  the  establishment  of  the  banks  at 
Venice  and  (jcnoa;  which  had  their  origin  in  forced  loans  by  the  Govern- 
ments. The  promi- 
nent position  occupied 
by  Amsterdam  in  in- 
ternational commerce, 
drew  to  its  merchants 
the  coinage  of  all 
countries,  much  ot 
it  worn  and  clipped. 
So  marked  was  this 
influx  of  coin  that  the 
currency  of  Amster- 
dam was  reduced 
about  nine  per  cent 
below  the  value  ot 
newly-coined  money, 
and,  although  money 
might  be  plenty  in  the 
city,  merchants  were 
frequently  at  a  loss  to 
secure  enough  of  par 
value  to  pay  their  bills 
of  exchange,  the  value 
of  which,  therefore, 
became  uncertain. 

The  bank  accepted 
all  coin  at  its  standard 
value;  deducting  a 
small  amount  for  ex- 
penses of  coinage  and 
management,  and 
gave  a  credit  on  its 
books  for  the  amount. 
It  possessed  a  constant 


ROBERT   M.   NIXON. 
PresiJent   Fifth  National   Bank,  Cincinnati,  Ohic 


This  credit  was  naturally  termed  bank-money 

value  and  was  worth  more  than  money  in  actual  circulation. 

When  the  bank  was  created,  it  was  ordained  that  bills  drawn  on 
Amsterdam,  or  bills  negotiated  in  Amsterdam,  of  the  value  of  six  hun- 
dred guilders  or  more,  shouhi  be  paid  in  bank-money.  This  gave  a 
uniform  value  to  bills  of  exchange,  and  obliged  every  merchant  to  keep 
an  account  with  the  bank,  in  order  to  pay  his  foreign  bills  of  exchange. 

Other  conveniences  of  bank-money  brought  it  to  a  premium  ;  the 
safety  of  it  seemed  to  be  assured  ;  the  city  guaranteed   its  pa\ment  on 


demand;  pa\'ments  made  in  it  were  in  the  most  convenient  form,  and 
the  premium  on  it  was  lost  if  the  deposit  was  withdrawn,  The  natural 
result  was  that  immense  sums  of  money  found  their  wa\'  into  the  bank 
vaults,  where  they  were  popularly  supposed  to  remain. 

Adam  Smith  published  a  statement  made  to  him  by  Hope,  the  Am- 
sterdam merchant,  to  the  effect  that  the  deposits  of  coin  formed  but  a 
small  part  of  its  capital,  as  the  bank  had  been  in  the  practice,  for  many 
years,  of  giving  credit  for  depositors  of  gold  and  silver  bullion.  For  bul- 
lion the  bank  gave  a  receipt,  which  permitted  its  removal  at  any  time 
within  six  months,  on  retransferring  to  the  bank  a  sum  of  bank-money 
equal  to  the  credit  given  for  the  bullion.  For  the  care  of  gold  bullion 
one-half  per  cent  was  charged,  and  for  silver  one-fourth  per  cent.  If  the 
bullion  was  not  removed  on  the  expiration  of  six  months,  it  reverted  to 
the  bank  at  the  price  for  which  credit  had  been  given  on  its  deposit.  The 
effect  of  this  was  to  stimulate  trade  in  bullion. 

There  was  no  cause  for  distrusting  the  statement  that  the  entire  de- 
posits made  to  the  bank  were  kept  intact  until  1672,  when  the  French 
invasion  as  far  as  Utrecht  occurred.  A  rush  was  made  by  depositors  for 
coin  to  the  amount  of  their  credits,  and,  in  accordance  with  the  principle 
on  which  the  bank  was  founded,  the  deposits  were  found  to  be  complete, 
and  the  bank  met  every  demand.  This  run,  and  its  successful  weathering 
by  the  bank,  increased  popular  confidence  in  the  institution  and  greatly 
raised  its  credit. 

For  one  hundred  and  eighteen  years  after  this  the  bank  performed 
its  functions  with  great  efficiency,  and  solemn  oaths  were  recorded  with 
regularity  that  the  treasures  were  intact.  No  public  investigation  of  the 
bank  was  made  in  all  this  time,  and  the  fact  that  the  bank,  contrary  to 
the  statements  of  its  officers,  had  been  advancing  money  to  the  unfortu- 
nate Fast  India  Company  and  to  different  provinces,  was  not  publicly 
known  until  in  December,  1790. 

When  Mr,  Hope  wrote  Adam  Smith  (about  1775).  he  stated  that 
there  were  about  two  thousand  depositors,  and  that  the  bank  possessed 
ii^3,ooo,ooo.  In  1790  it  was  discovered  that  most  of  the  deposits  in  the 
bank  had  disappeared  fifty  years  before,  and  that  there  was  then  but  a 
small  sum  left.  The  bank,  to  save  itself,  suddenly  announced  that  in  the 
future  it  would  pay  out  silver  only  at  a  discount  often  per  cent,  and  that 
no  deposits  would  be  paid  of  less  than  2,500  florins.  This  practical  con- 
fession of  bankruptcy  caused  its  receipts  to  fall  from  105  to  50,  and 
created  a  run.  The  order  was  rescinded,  after  a  short  time,  and  credit 
was  re-established  with  the  people,  who  had  no  knowledge  of  the  bank's 
real  condition. 

In  1794  the  I'^-ench  entered  Amsterdam,  and  an  examination  of  the 
bank's  aff.iirs  showed  that  eleven  millions  of  florins  had  been  advanced  by 
the  bank  to  the  ICast  India  Company  and  to  the  provinces  of  Holland 
and  West  i^'riesland.  The  disclosure  of  this  breach  of  trust,  and  the  in- 
ability to  recover  the  money,  brought  its  credits  down  to  sixteen  per  cent 
below  current  coin,  and  the  bank  assigned  its  claims  against  the  company 
and  the  States  to  its  depositors. 

In  1619  the  present  bank  of  Hamburg  was  established — ten  years 
after  the  Bank  of  Amsterdam,  and  to  remedy  the  same  evils  in  Hamburg 
as  prevailed  at  Amsterdam — to  receive  debased  coins  of  uncertain  value. 


19 

and  circulate  in  their  stead  bank-credits  of  a  pixsitive  value  "In  a  city  of 
the  highest  rank  for  commercial  activity,"  saws  Palgrave,  "but  greatly 
circumscribed  in  territory,  continually  receiving  payments  for  merchan- 
dise in  the  coin  of  other  countries,  a  ccniimon  standard  of  \ahic  was  a 
matter  of  primary  necessity." 

The  bank  received  at  first  only  the  rix  tloUars  of  the  (jcrman  ICm- 
pire,  a  silver  coin  having  a  fixed  standard.  The  German  Government 
soon  coined  a  rix -dollar  of  light  weight,  and  large  numbers  found  their 
way  into  the  bank  before  the  fraud  was  disco\ered.  The  confusion  was 
so  great  as  to  cause  the  closure  of  the  bank  for  a  short  time. 

A  basis  of  value  was  adopted,  midway  between  the  standard  and  de- 
based coins,  on  which  settlements  were  effected  in  1770.  This  basis  ot 
value  was  termed  a  "mark  banco."  and  from  that  time  the  "mark  banco" 
was  the  unit  of  the  money  of  account  in  the  bank.  Deposits  were  received 
b\-  weight  (whether  of  coin  or  bullion),  and  credits  were  made  on  the 
basis  of  "mark  banco"  for  every  59^3  parts  of  a  metrical  pound  of  silver 
of  the  fineness  of  {[j'co  '^^^  over.  For  its  services  the  bank  charged  one- 
eighth  percent  to  the  seller  of  the  silver.  This  system  required  the  as- 
saying of  each  quantity  of  silv^er  received.  The  bank-money  on  this  basis 
was  quite  as  permanent  as  any,  Colwell  saying  of  it  in  1859  that  it  had 
commanded  a  premium  above  the  currenc}'  of  coins  in  general  circulation 
of  from  twenty  to  twenty- five  per  cent  for  a  long  period. 

Payments  made  were  merely  transfers  from  one  person's  account  at 
the  bank  to  that  of  another,  and  payers  were  obliged  to  appear  person- 
ally, or  by  attorneys,  with  checks  with  printed  signatures.  Only  mer- 
chants in  Hamburg  are  allowed  to  keep  accounts.  In  connection  with 
the  bank  there  is  a  loan  ofifice,  in  which  advances  equal  to  three- fourths 
their  value,  are  made  on  pledges  of  gold,  silver  or  jewels. 

The  credit  of  the  bank  has  been  uniformly  well  sustained.  In  1770, 
as  we  have  mentioned,  the  bank  was  affected  by  a  depreciation  of  the 
German  rix-dollar.  Again  it  overextended  its  loans  on  pledges,  and 
Napoleon's  army  once  took  its  mone}-,  but  it  was  repaid,  and  the  bank 
resumed  t)perations. 

In  1853  it  was  found  that  the  distinctive  and  altogether  peculiar  .sys- 
tem of  conducting  the  bank's  business,  based,  as  it  was,  on  bar  silver, 
lacked  convenience  for  modern  business  methods,  as  no  facilities  were 
given  for  credits  or  discounts.  On  February  15,  1873,  the  German 
Government  rec[uiied  all  banking  to  be  on  a  gold  standard.  The  ancient 
Bank  of  Hamburg  was  obliged  to  abolish  its  bar-sil\er  standard  and  its 
"mark  banco,"  and  use  a  monetar}-  swstem,  which  is  ri.x  money  in  marks, 
150  marks  being  equal  to  100  marks  banco.  The  bank  is  gcn'crned  by 
five  directors,  two  counsellors,  two  treasurers,  and  two  of  the  principal 
city  magistrates. 

The  first  bank  in  Sweden  was  established  by  a  Swede  named  Palm- 
struck,  in  1656,  and  in  1668  it  became  the  bank  of  Sweden.  To  Sweden 
is  gi\en  the  credit  of  introducing  the  use  of  the  bank-note  in  Europe,  the 
first  one  having  been  issued  iu  1658.  To  Sweden  is  also  given  the  credit 
for  great  advances  in  methods  of  banking  similar  to  our  present  methods. 
The  circulating  medium  of  Sweden  was  copper,  and  large  payments  were 
made  with  great  inconxenience.  To  remed\'  this,  the  bank  received  the 
copper  money  and  issued  bank-notes  against  it,  which  passed  current  all 


20 


over  the  country.      Later  on  the  bank  did  a  loaning  business,  and  nearly 
suffered  disaster  in  1752. 


CHAPTER    III. 

EARLY    ENGLISH    BANKING,    AND    THE    BANK    OF    ENGLAND. 

In  England  banking  as  now  understood  had  no  existence  previous 
to  the   sixteenth   century.     The  first   publi:   institution   of  the  nature   ot 

banking  was 
the  Exchequer, 
founded  by 
William  I., 
which  is  still  in 
existence,  mod- 
1  fied  in  form 
from  a  reposi- 
tory of  cash  to 
an  office  of  ac- 
counts. In  the 
reign  of  Henr)- 
III.,  1216- 
1272,  we  are 
informed  that 
money-lending 
bankers, chiefly 
jews,  were  set- 
lied  at  Oxford, 
where  shameful 
practices  were 
carried  out  in 
discounting  for 
students,  fort\-- 
h\e  per  cent 
being  a  com- 
mon discount. 
On  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the 
Jews  from  Eng- 
land the  busi- 
ness of  private 
banking  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Lombards,  sent  to  England  b\-  Pope 
Gregory  IX,  some  fifty  }ears  previously.  Their  business  was  undoubt- 
edly much  the  same  as  is  at  present  carried  on  under  the  sign  which  they 
carried  from  Lombardy,  the  three  golden  balls.  They  gave  wax-  to  the 
goldsmiths,  who  afterwards  became  bankers  proper.  Collins  states  that 
our  "lumber"  and  "lumber- room"  are  from  their  name  and  method  of 
storing  pledges  in  what  were  called  "Lombard  Rooms."  It  is  well 
known  that  Lombard  Street,  the  banking  center  of  London,  took  its 
name  from  the  custom  of  Lombards  and  f(M'cign  merchants  assembling 
there  twice  each  day. 


I,.   C.    NELSON. 
President  St.   Louis  National  Bank,  St.  Louis, 


\ 


21 


The  custom  of  depositing  money  with  goldsmiths,  says  a  contem- 
poraneous writer,  grew  out  of  the  fact  that  servants  could  not  be  trusted 
as  cashiers.  In  the  hands  of  goldsmiths,  persons  accustomed  to  handling 
valuables,  it  was  safe.  The  business  of  receiving  and  making  payments, 
of  collecting  rents,  and  of  loaning  money  at  interest,  was  a  natural  one, 
and  soon  followed  the  first  practice  of  acting  simply  as  treasurers  of  de- 
posits. Goldsmiths  were  well-respected  members  of  the  community,  and 
record  of  their  holding  high  offices  in  London  are  found  in  the  reigns  of 
Henry  I.,  Richard  I.,  and  Edward  I.  In  1598  the  houses  in  Goldsmith's 
Row  were  spoken  of  as  being  very  beautiful.     These  were  destroyed  by 

the  great  fire  of  Lon- 
don, after  w^hich  the 
goldsmiths  settled  in 
Lombard  street.  Their 
surplus  money  was 
placed  for  safety  in 
the  Royal  Mint  in  the 
Tower  of  London, 
from  which  Charles  I. 
took  iJ'200.000,  ruin- 
ing many  bankers  and 
forcing  them  all  to 
consider  it  a  loan.  It 
was  repaid  in  a  few 
months,  but  the  mint 
never  recovered  its 
credit. 

During  the  civil 
war  which  marked 
the  reign  of  Ciiarles 
I.;  nearly  all  the  sur- 
plus money  of  the 
country  found  its  way 
into  the  hands  of 
goldsmiths,  many  of 
whom,  encouraged  by 
their  success  in  loan- 
i  n  g  mone}',  s  u  b  s  e- 
( I  u  e  n  1 1  y  confined 
themselves  e  x  c  1  u  - 
sively  to  banking  op- 
erations. The  first 
"run"  on  a  bank  is  recorded  as  occurring  in  1667,  the  "run"  being  on  a 
banker  named  Backwell,  and  become  general.  The  bankers  adopted  the 
expedient  of  requiring  twent\'  days'  notice,  but  suffered  a  shock  to  their 
credit,  which  was  entirely  destroyed  in  1672. 

The  custom  of  depositing  surplus  money  in  the  mint  had  given  way 
after  its  robbery  by  Charles  I.,  to  that  of  its  deposit  in  the  Exchequer. 
Once  a  week  they  withdrew  this  money,  with  which  to  meet  the  demands 
of  their  customers.  On  Jan.  2,  1672,  Charles  II.,  needed  money  very 
badly,  on  the  advice  of  Sir  Thomas  Clifford,  stopped  the  payment  of  the 


H.  W,  CANNON. 
President  Chase  National  Bank,  New  York  City 


money  in  the  Exchetiucr  beloni^in^  to  the  bankers,  i'he  suspension  of 
this  weekly  payment  (there  bein<;  i?i,328.526  on  deposit)  involved  the 
bankers  and  customers  in  common  ruin. 

In  an  attempt  to  satisfy  this  debt  Charles  ga\'e  letters  patent  to  the 
various  robbed  bankers,  agreein<(  to  pay  the  principal  with  interest  at  6 
percent.  A  list  of  these  creditors  of  tlie  Kin*^  shows  that  Sir  Robert 
Vyner,  Edward  Backwell,  Gilbert  Whitehall,  Joseph  Horneby,  Jeremiah 
Snow,  Bernard  Turner,  and  Geort^e  Sneli  were  the  principal  London 
bankers  of  the  time.  The  interest  was  paid  a  few  years  and  then  sus- 
pended. The  creditors  were  obliged  to  prosecute  their  claim  to  the 
court  of  last  resort,  and  a  judgement  against  the  Crown  was  secured.  In 
1699  an  act  was  passed  which  provided  that  3  per  cent  per  annum  should 
be  paid  on  the  principal  sum,  but  that  the  indebtedness  might  be  cancel- 
led by  the  payment  of  a  moiet\'  thereof,  ^664,264.  This  indebtedness  is 
the  first  item  of  the  present  national  debt  of  luigland,  and  interest  is  still 
paid  at  3  per  cent  on  the  whole  amount. 

Of  the  old  London  bankers  whose  business  is  still  carried  on  ma\- 
be  mentioned  Edward  Blackwell,  who  was  succeeded  by  Sir  Josiah  Child, 
founder  of  the  present  house  of  Child  &  Co.  In  1692  the  business  of 
Middleton  &  Campbell,  goldsmiths,  came  into  the  hands  of  James  Coutts, 
and  the  business  still  carried  on  by  Coutts'  bank  was  thus  established. 
We  are  told  that  the  use  of  pass-books  by  banks  originated  with  Mr. 
Coggs,  a  goldsmith,  in  the  Strand.  Previous  to  their  use  it  was  cus- 
tomary for  depositors  to  call  regularly  and  check  up  their  accounts. 

Although  no  public  bank  was  established  in  England  until  1699, 
there  had  been  proposals,  petitions,  and  discussions  looking  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  public  bank,  so  that  the  organization  of  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land was  but  the  result  of  a  growth  of  public  sentiment,  and  the  increas- 
ing need  that  the  public  service  should  effect  a  large  loan.  Two 
schemes  devised  by  William  Paterson  for  the  establishment  of  a  national 
bank  failed.  In  the  third  scheme,  in  which  he  was  aided  by  Michael 
Godfrey,  he  was  successful,  and  an  act  inccirporating  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land received  the  royal  assent  from  William  III.,  on  April  25,  1694.  The 
act  provided  that  ^100,000  should  be  annually  appropriated  to  persons 
making  a  voluntary  loan  of  i,"i, 200,000  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on 
the  war  with  France.  Commissioners  were  appointed  to  receive  the  sub- 
scrii:)tions  before  Aug.  i,  1694.  The  stock  was  transferable,  and  the 
stockholders  were  called  collectively  the  (jovernor  and  Company  of 
the  Bank  of  England.  The  Government  retained  the  power  to  pay  the 
sum  at  twelve  months'  notice  after  Aug.  i,  1705,  upon  which  payment 
the  corporation  should  cease.  The  corporation  was  allowed  to  deal  in 
bills  of  exchange,  to  buy  and  sell  bullion,  gold  and  silver,  to  lend  money 
on  security,  and  its  bills  of  crctlit  were  made  transferable.  The  corpora- 
tion was  forbidden  to  athance  mone\'  to  the  Crown  without  permission  of 
Parliament. 

In  ten  days  the  whole  sum  of /'i, 200,000  was  subscribed,  and  on 
July  10  and  11,  officers  of  the  compan\-  were  elected.  On  January  i, 
1695,  the  bank  began  active  operations  at  Grocers'  Hall,  Poultry.  Notes 
of  ;^20  were  issued,  and  the  bank  commenced  discounting  mercantile 
bills  of  exchange.  The  bank  was  authorized  to  advance  money  on 
pledges,  but  no  very  considerable  business   of  this   kind   seems  to    ha\'e 


23 

been  done.      At  first   the  bank  stood   in    hit^h  credit  with  all  hut  usurers, 
with  whose  business  it  seriously  interfered. 

Its  first  trouble  came  May  5,  1696.  Coin  had  been  clipped,  filed, 
and  counterfeited  to  an  enormous  extent,  so  much  so  that  gold  guineas 
of  full  weight  passed  current  at  thirty  shillings.  It  had  been  the  bank's 
practice  to  receive  degraded  coin  at  its  nominal  value,  and  when  the  great 
issue  of  new  coin  began  the  bank  was  obliged  to  pay  its  notes  in  full- 
weighted  coin,  so  that  for  every  seven  ounces  it  had  received  it  was 
obliged  to  pay  twelve  ounces.  Of  course,  this  caused  a  "run",  on  the 
bank.  Its  enemies,  the  private  bankers,  improved  this  opportunity  to  the 
full  extent,  and  on  the  day  mentioned  they  suddenly  presented  ^30,000 
in  notes  and  demanded  payment.  The  bank  suspended  cash  payments, 
but  it  got  through  the  trouble  by  good  management  and  Government 
assistance,  but  as  a  precautionary  measure  its  capital  stock  was  increased 
by  vote  of  Parliament  on  Feb.  3,  1697,  new  subscriptions  to  be  paid  in 
exchequer  tallies  and  bank  notes.  The  life  ofthe  bank  was  prolonged 
until  twelve  months  after  notice  given  Aug.  i,  17 10,  and  the  bank  was 
given  a  monopoly  ofthe  public  banking  business. 

It  should  be  noticed  that  a  bank  was  chartered  by  the  Government 
just  before  this,  its  advance  to  the  Government  to  be  ^2,564,000,  but  it 
had  been  impossible  to  secure  subscriptions. 

The  Bank  of  England  was  authorized  to  issue  bank  notes  to  the  ex- 
tent of  its  new  capital,  payable  on  demand  and  secured  by  the  Govern- 
ment.    The  new  subscriptions  amounted  to  ^^"1,001, 17  i ,  los. 

In  1707  the  threat  of  invasion  by  Louis  XIV.  threw  the  country 
into  a  panic,  and  the  enemies  ofthe  bank  again  attempted  to  cause  its 
downfall,  but  it  was  reinforced  by  the  queen  and  several  nobles,  and  came 
through  the  trouble  safely. 

In  1709,  the  Government  being  greatly  embarrassed,  the  bank  was 
appealed  to  again,  and  an  arrangement  was  made  with  it  by  which  the 
interest  which  the  Government  was  pa}'ing  on  its  original  stock  of 
i." 1, 200,000,  was  reduced  from  8  to  6  per  cent,  with  an  annual  allowance 
of  ^^"4,000  for  managing  the  debt,  the  bank  was  to  advance  ^400,- 
000  more  at  6  per  cent  interest;  the  capital  stock  of  ^r2, 201,171,  los, 
was  allowed  to  be  doubled  at  a  price  of  i  i  5  for  the  new  stock,  upon 
which  the  bank  agreed  to  circulate  iJ"2, 500,000  in  Exchequer-bills,  and 
to  receive  an  allowance  of  6  j^er  cent,  one-half  for  interest  and  one-half 
for  repayment  of  the  principal,  and  that  no  more  Exchequer-bills  should  be 
issued  without  the  bank's  consent.  The  life  of  the  bank  was  further  ex- 
tended to  August  I,  1732. 

The  subscriptions  to  this  new  stock  were  paid  in  four  hours  after 
the  lists  were  opened. 

Although  the  act  of  1697  prevented  the  creation  of  another  bank  by 
Paraliament,  private  joint-stock  banks  were  formed,  and  any  corporation 
and  company  could  {perform  a  banking  business.  To  cut  off  these  ad- 
venturers an  act  was  passed  that  during  the  life  of  the  Bank  of  England 
no  more  than  six  persons  could  be  united  to  do  a  banking  business. 
The  result  was  the  prevention  ofthe  formation  of an\'  other  joint- stock- 
bank  than  the  Bank  of  England. 

In  171  3,  upon  loan  to  the  Government  of  /,"  100,000,  secured  by  I^x- 
chequer-bills,  the  life  ofthe  bank  was  prolonged  to  twelve  months'  notice 


24 

to  be  given  after  August  i,  1742,  and  the  payment  of  ^1,600,000.  In 
1 7 16  the  life  of  the  b\nk  was  prolonged  indefinitely  until  three  annuities 
of  i^8 8,7 5  I,  ;^ 1 00,000,  and  ^76,830,  and  other  debts,  upon  which  an 
annual  interest  of  5  per  cent  was  paid,  were  extinguished.  In  1717  the 
temporary  victory  and  final  collapse  of  the  great  South  Sea  company  oc- 
curred, resulting  in  a  "run"  on  the  Bank  of  P^ngland  which  was  artfully 
met  and  overcome.  In  1722  the  reserve  fund  known  as  the  "rest"  was 
created. 

As  1 742,  the  time   when   the  life  of  the  bank   was    to   expire,  drew 
nigh,  the  bank   advanced  i^  1,600,000  to  the  Government,  and  its  capital 

(enlarged  in  1 720  to  ^8,- 
959,995  14s.  8d.  by  the 
purchase  of  ^^4, 000,000 
in  South  Sea  company's 
annuities)  was  inc  eased 
to  ^,"9, 800,000;  its  life 
was  also  prolonged  until 
twehe  months'  notice  to 
be  given  after  August  i, 
1764.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  close  up  the 
loose  ends  of  the  act  of 
1709  by  an  amendment 
intended  to  make  the 
bank's  monopoly  more 
exclusive. 

In  1745  the  rebellion 
in  Scotland  was  the  cause 
of  a  "run"  on  the  bank, 
and  its  notes  fell  to  a 
discount  often  per  cent, 
but  one  thousand  six 
hundred  merchants 
pledged  themselves  to 
support  the  credit  of  the 
bank  notes,  and  the  "run" 
was  stopped.  In  1746 
the  bank's  capital  was 
advanced  by  f u  r  t  h  e  r 
loans  to  the  Government 
to  i^  I  0,780,000.  In 
1759  notes  for  ^15  and 
for  ^10  were  first  issued. 
The  charter  of  the  bank  expired  in  1764,  and  it  was  renewed  upon 
the  absolute  gift  of  i^i  io,ooo  to  the  nation,  and  a  loan  of  ^1,000,000  on 
Kxchequer-bills  for  two  years  at  3  per  cent,  the  renewal  of  the  charter 
being  until  twelve  months'  notice  after  August  i,  1786.  In  1781  the 
charter  was  again  renewed  upon  the  advance  of  ^"2, 000,000  at  3  per  cent 
for  three  years,  until  twelve  months'  alter  August  1,  i8i2,and  the  pay- 
ment of  the  public  debt.  In  1782  the  capital  was  increa.sed  to  £1  1,642,- 
400. 


C.    HOOD. 
President  Kmporia  National  Bank.   Emporia,   Kansas. 


\ 


25 

The  London  Clearin*^  Mouse  was  established  in  1773,  and  occupied 
its  buildiuij^  in  Lombard  street  in  1775,  but  it  was  many  years  before  the 
Hank  of  Entj^land  joined  it. 

Up  to  this  time  the  monopoh'  of  the  bank  was  nearly  complete. 
Private  bankers  now  began  to  give  customers  blank  check-books,  and 
the  use  of  them  in  London  became  universal,  entireh-  superseding  the 
use  of  bank-notes  and  circunnenting  the  monopoly  of  the  liink  of  England. 
During  the  period  of  unusual  industrial  activity  which  followed  the 
termination  of  the  war  of  17 13,  England  felt  for  the  first  time  the  great 
need  of  reliable  banks  ot  issue   other  than    the   Bank   of  England.     Its 

monopoly  was  com- 
plete, and  to  provide  a 
currency  small  shop- 
keepers and  irrespon- 
sible persons  turned 
bankers  and  inundat- 
ed the  country  with  a 
miserable  currency.  In 
1775  an  act  prohib- 
ited bankers  issuing 
notes  of  less  than  20 
shillings.  In  1777 
the  minimum  value 
was  made  £^. 

In  1782  the  exten- 
sion of  foreign  com- 
merce consequent  on 
the  conclusion  of  the 
war  with  the  Ameri- 
can colonies,  led  to 
overtrading.  The 
Bank  of  England 
made  unwise  issues. 
Banks  w  h  i  ch  had 
sprung  up  like  mush- 
rooms all  o\er  the 
country,  in  almost 
every  hamlet,  issued 
currency  freely,  and, 
strange  as  it  may  ap- 
Ky.  pear,  all  was  received 

w  i  t  h  o  u  t  liesitation. 
The  actual  money  at  the  command  of  the  bankers  became  ridiculously 
small  for  the  magnitude  of  operations  carried  on.  In  the  fall  of  1792 
the  revulsion  occurred,  and  bankruptcies  were  unusualh'  frequent.  The 
declaration  of  war  with  the  Government  of  France  under  the  Convention 
was  the  last  blow  to  staggering  credit,  and  the  financial  storm  which 
swept  o\'er  England  carried  down  three  hundred  of  the  three  hundred  and 
fifty  bankers  doing  business. 

The  Bank  of  England  refused  to  support  credit  by  meeting  the  de- 
mand for  discounts.     The   Government  came  to  the   rescue,  issued  Ex- 


J.    H.    LINUENBERGER. 
President  American  National  Bank,  Louisville 


26 

chequer-bills  to  the   amount  of  ^,"5, 000,000,  and   freely  loaned  them   to 
strugglinL^  institutions.      Credit  was  immediatel}-  restored. 

In  1797  a  combination  of  untoward  exents  had  the  effect  of  with- 
drawing large  sums  of  specie  from  the  bank:  The  danger  of  invasion  by 
the  French  became  the  cause  of  numerous  "runs"  on  country  banks, 
which  rapidly  spread  to  London,  and  on  February  26,  1797,  the  Bank 
of  England  was  directed  to  suspend  cash  payments  until  the  opinion  of 
Parliament  could  be  taken.  The  bank  gave  notice  that  its  affairs  were 
most  prosperous  and  its  notes  perfectly  secure.  Parliament  continued 
the  suspension  of  cash  payments  until  six  months  after  a  definitive  treaty 
of  peace  should  have  been  concluded.  The  result  of  this  action  practi- 
cally made  the  bank-notes  legal  tender,  and  for  the  first  three  years  after 
the  passage  of  the  restriction  act  they  were  on  a  par  with  gold  or  pos- 
sessed a  small  premium.  From  1800  to  18 10  the  history  of  the  bank- 
notes was  one  of  gradual  depreciation,  until  m  18 10  the  attention  of  Par- 
hament  was  called  to  the  subject  and  a  committee  of  inquiry  was  ap- 
pointed which  reported  that  the  depreciation  was  due  to  over-issue,  and 
recommended  that  the  Bank  of  England  resume  specie  payments  within 
two  years.  The  recommendation  was  not  adopted,  and  the  over-issue 
continued  until  in  18 14  the  maximum  depreciation  was  25  per  cent. 

In  1813  the  number  of  country  banks  had  increased  to  900,  but  in 
the  three  years  following  240  of  them  stopped  payment,  and,  of  course, 
their  paper  was  withdrawn  from  circulation,  causing  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land's notes  to  rise  nearly  to  par.  The  bank  was  directed  to  resume 
specie  payments  in  1823,  but  in  fact  it  did  resume  on  May  i,  1821.  No 
legislation  was  had  to  prevent  the  unwise  issue  of  notes  by  country  banks 
however,  and  in  1823  such  issues  were  greatly  enlarged,  and  in  1825  the 
amount  in  circulation  was  estimated  to  have  been  60  per  cent  greater 
than  in  1823.  Speculation  became  hazardous  in  the  extreme,  and  when 
exchange  began  to  fall  in  1824  trouble  began.  London  currenc}'  was 
contracted  in  September,  1825,  and  country  banks  began  to  fail  the  mo- 
ment they  could  not  secure  accommodations  in  London.  In  less  than 
six  weeks  more  than  seventy  banks  were  carried  down,  and  the  demand 
for  gold  at  the  Bank  of  England  was  so  great  as  to  have  drained  it  of 
about  seven  millions  of  bullion  before  the  outflow  could  be  stopped. 

The  crisis  in  London  lasted  one  week,  when  the  tide  receded,  and 
the  safety  of  the  bank  was  assurred.  The  exchange  turned  to  the  favor 
of  luigland,  and  gold  began  to  flow  towards  the  country.  The  Bank  of 
England  then  issued  notes  with  prodigal  abundance,  ^"5, 000,000  being 
issued  in  three  days.  The  next  week  uneasiness  in  the  country  was 
again  apparent,  but  it  was  stayed  b\'  the  bank's  issue  of  ^"500.000  in 
;^i -notes,  and  by  the  first  of  1826  credit  was  entirely  restored. 

In  1826  the  issue  of  less  than  i^5-notes  was  prohibited  in  I'jigiand. 
In  1833  the  charter  of  the  bank  was  extended  for  ten  years,  and  joint- 
.stock  banks  of  i.ssue  defined  and  permitted.  In  1839  the  issue  of  the 
Bank  of  h.ngland  again  became  redundant,  and  but  for  assistance  from 
the  Bank  of  h^-ance,  the  bank  would  have  stopped  pa\'ment. 

lu  1844  and  1845  Sir  Robert  Peel  introduced  measures  into  Parlia- 
ment, the  pas.sage  of  which  greatly  imjjroved  luigland's  banking  system. 
The  power  to  issue  notes  payable  on  demand  was  limited  by  making  the 
amount  of  such  notes  in  circulation  vary  with  the  amount  of  bullion  pos- 


-/ 

sesscd  by  the  issuer.  The  issuing  and  banking;  departments  t)f  the  Bank 
of  England  were  entirely  separated,  and  over  the  first  department  the 
Bank  was  oi\en  no  control.  The  issue  of  the  Bank  was  made  /"  14,000,- 
000  on  securities,  and  it  was  allowed  to  issue  two-thirds  of  the  amount  of 
notes  which  any  country  bank  was  authorized,  but  failed,  to  issue.  Under 
this  provision  the  issue  had  increased  to  ;j^i  5,000,000  in  1875.  Above 
this  sum  its  notes  can  only  be  issued  upon  the  receipt  of  an  equal  amount 
of  coin  or  bullion.      By  this  legislation  its  notes  are  made  equal  with  gold. 

The  act  of  1844  also  provided  that  no  new  bank  of  issue  should  be 
established  in  the  United  Kingdom,  and  that  the  maximum  issue  of  notes 
by  the  existing  country  English  banks  should  be  limited  to  the  average 
amount  which  tiiey  had  in  circulation  during  the  twelve  weeks  preceding 
April  27,  1844.  No  other  bank  than  the  Bank  of  England  was  allowed 
to  issue  notes  in  or  within  sixty-five  miles  of  London.  The  charter  of 
the  bank  was  extended  until  twelve  months'  notice  after  August  i,  1855. 

On  three  occasions,  in  1847,  1857,  and  in  1866,  it  has  been  found 
necessary  to  authorize  the  Bank  to  issue  notes  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
act  of  1844,  in  order  to  restore  credit  to  the  mercantile  community. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  history  of  the  Bank  of  England.  \\  ith  it  is 
closeh' connected  the  histor}- of  banking  in  England.  Branches  of  the 
Bank  have  been  established  at  Manchester,  Liv^erpool,  Birmingham, 
Bristol,  Leeds,  Plymouth,  Newcastle-on-Tyne,  Hull,  and  Portsmouth: 
The  capital  stock  of  the  Bank  is  ^14,553,000.  The  "Rest"  on  October 
26;  1887,  was ^3,100,053.  The  dividends  for  the  year  ending  October 
5,  1887,  were  at  the  rate  oi  £g^/^  per  cent.  The  price  of  bank  stock  on 
October  26,  1887;  was  ^304.  On  that  day  there  were  ^,^24  210,255  in 
circulation,  and  of  its  unemployed  notes  there  were  ^10,824,670.  Of 
gold  and  siKer  coin  and  bullion  there  were  ^20,092,263. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

.MODERN    EUROPEAN     B.ANKINC. 

The  history  of  banks  in  England  other  than  the  Bank  of  England 
can  be  sketched  in  a  few  words.  The  end  of  the  war  between  France 
aud  England  in  1815,  was  soon  reflected  in  the  brightening  of  commerce, 
but  it  was  a  long  time  before  the  people  paid  attention  to  banking  laws  or 
facilities,  The  Bank  of  England,  together  with  private  bankers,  had  been 
able  to  meet  all  demands.  The  crisis  of  1825  showed  the  weakness  of 
pri\ate  banks,  and  the  necessity  of  public  banks.  The  legislation  restrict- 
ing the  formation  of  joint-stock  banks  in  order  to  protect  the  monopoly 
of  the  Bank  of  luigland,  has  already  been  mentioned.  In  1826  six  joint- 
stock  banks  were  registered,  and  seven  in  1828-9  and  seven  more  in 
1829-30.  In  1833  legislation  was  had  permitting  joint-stock  bani<s  of 
deposit  in  London.  In  1834  the  pro.spectus  of  the  London  and  West- 
minster Bank  was  promulgated  by  James  William  Gilbart.  In  1836  the 
London  Joint-Stock  Bank  was  organized,  and  in  1839  the  Union  Bank 
of  London  was  established.  The  act  of  1833  did  not  permit  the  banks  to 
sue  or  be  sued  in  the  name  of  their  officers,  but  a  later  Act  of  Parliament 
corrected  that  defect.  At  present  there  are  173  joint-stock  banks  in  the 
I'nited  Kingdom,  the  banker's  license  being  ^30  annualU'. 


28 


/ 


The  restrictive  legislation  of  1708  against  joint-stock  banks  in  Eng- 
land did  not  extend  to  Scotland.  The  Bank  of  Scotland  was  organized 
in  1695,  the  year  following  the  establishment  of  the  Bank  of  England. 
Its  original  capital  was  ^^loo.ooo,  and  it  had  a  monopoly  for  twenty-five 
years.  In  1774  its  capital  was  increased  to  ;^200,ooo,  and  at  several 
other  times,  until  it  now  stands  at  ^^i, 500,000,  of  which  ;^i, 000,000  is 
paid-up.  It  is  the  only  Scotch  b^ink,  established  by  Parliament.  In  1696 
it  began  to  establish  branches,  and  began  to  issue  notes  as  early  as  1704, 
It  was  a  bank  of  deposit  at  an  early  period — certainly  before  1729 — and 
interest  on  deposits  was  allowed.  The  Bank  has  branches  in  all  im- 
portant Scotch  towns. 
Of  other  joint-stock 
banks  in  Scotland  may 
be  mentioned:  The  Royal 
Bank  of  Scotland;  estab- 
lished in  1727,  and  now 
having  a  capital  of^2,- 
000,000,  and  numerous 
branches;  the  British 
Linen  Company  Bank, 
established  in  1746,  with 
a  capital  of  ^1,000,000  ; 
The  Commercial  Bank  of 
Scotland,  limited;  The 
National  Bank  of  Scot- 
land, limited;  The  Union 
Bank  of  Scotland,  lim- 
ited; and  the  Caledonian 
Banking  Company,  lim- 
ited. In  Scotland  the 
system  of  giving  cash- 
credits  in  limited  sums 
upon  personal  and  other 
security,  prevails.  Fail- 
ures in  Scotch  banks 
ha\e  been  infrequent, 
those  of  the  Western 
Bank  and  the  City  of 
Glasgow  Bank,  being 
notable  instances. 

The  Bank  of  Ireland 
dates  from  1783.  Previous  to  this  a  primitve  system  of  private  bank- 
ing prevailed,  goldsmith,  tradesmen,  and  general  dealers  being  the  bank- 
ers. The  earliest  reference  to  the  sudject  of  Irish  banking  is  an  act  of 
the  Irish  ParliannMit  in  1709.  The  business  at  that  time  was  entircl}'  un- 
controlled, and  any  person  could  issue  bank  notes,  silver  or  copper  coin. 
Upon  the  establishment  of  the  Bank  of  Ireland,  banking  privileges  were 
much  curtailed.  In  1797  the  suspension  of  cash  payment  by  the  Bank 
of  P^ngland  was  extended  to  Ireland,  and  the  Bank  of  Ireland  greatly  in- 
creased its  issue  of  bank-notes.  Private  banks  sprung  up  all  over  the 
country,  and  they  also  swelled  the  currency    until   it  became  greatly   de- 


E.  ROTAN. 

President    First   National   Bank.  Waco. 


29 

predated.  In  1804  there  were  fifty-seven  banks  in  Ireland.  In  18 19 
but  nineteen  remained,  and  in  1827  there  were  but  ten  banks  in  all  Ire- 
land. In  1 82 1  a  law  was  passed  permitting  joint-stock  banks  to  be  or- 
ganized, but  none  were  founded  until  additionnal  legislation  in  1824  made 
the  restrictions  less  objectionable.  Then  the  Northern  Bank  of  Belfast 
was  organized.  In  1825  the  Provincial  Bank  of  Ireland  was  started  with 
a  capital  of  ^^2, 000,000.  In  1834  the  Agricultural  and  Commercial  Bank 
oi  Ireland  was  organized,  but  it  went  under  in  the  crisis  of  1836.  In 
1864  the  Munster  Bank  at  Cork  was  established.  It  has  over  forty 
branches,  and  pays  12  per  cent  dividends. 

On  May  2  and  20, 
1 7 16  the  French  Gov- 
ernment granted  a 
concession  to  J  o  h  n 
Law,  a  Scotchman, 
for  the  establishment 
of  a  bank,  of  which  he 
was  to  be  director  and 
the  Regent  its  pro- 
tector. Injune,  1716, 
it  began  business  with 
a  capital  of  6,000,000 
francs,  and  was  author- 
ized to  issue  notes  pay- 
able at  sight  and  to 
bearer,  to  discount  pa- 
per, to  receive  deposits, 
to  make  collections 
and  payments,  and  do 
a  general  banking  bus- 
iness. The  success  of 
the  bank  was  assured 
until  Law  and  his  Cojh- 
pagnie  d' Occident 
ruined  it  in  one  year. 
It  was  fifty  years  later 
before  the  country  was 
ready  for  another 
credit  establishment. 
In  1776  M.  Besnard 
was  authorized  to  es- 
tablish in  Paris  a  dis- 
count bank,  and,  although  of  value  to  the  business  world,  the  Convention 
suppressed  it  in  1793.  So  soon  as  the  public  quiet  was  restored,  organ- 
izations were  founded  which  in  1800  resulted  in  the  Bank  of  P"rance,  with 
a  capital  of  45,000,000  francs,  which  was  increased  to  90,000,000  francs 
in  1806.  It  is  a  bank  of  deposit,  discount,  and  circulation,  and  has  the 
sole  power  to  issue  notes.  Its  government  consists  of  a  governor  and 
two  deputies,  and  a  council-general  of  twenty  members.  Bills  are  dis- 
counted within  three  months  of  maturity,  guaranteed  by  two,  or  generally 
three,  approved  signatures.     The  annual  dividends  are  limited  to   5   per 


STEPHE.V    liULI,. 
President   .Manufacturers'   National  Bank,   Racine,  Wis. 


30 

cent.  All  other  profits  are  invested  in  consolidated  stock  to  be  returned 
to  the  stockholders  upon  the  expiration  of  the  charter  in  1897.  In  1848 
the  joint-stock  banks  which  had  been  started  in  several  large  cities  were 
consolidated  with  the  Bank  of  France  as  branches,  and  their  issues  of 
notes  suspended.  Since  then  branches  have  been  established  in  each  de- 
partment. In  1848  the  bank  suspended  cash  pa\-ments,  but  resumed 
them  in  185 1.  The  Government  i.s  largely  interested  in  the  Bank  of 
France  and  they  are  mutually  helpful.  In  1870  specie  payment  was 
stopped,  but  through  all  the  troublesome  times  which  followed,  the  man- 
agement of  the  bank  has  been  prudent,  and  its  credit  is  restored. 

A  few  other  joint-stock  banks  exist  in  France,  but  do  not  possess  the 
power  to  issue  notes. 

The  Royal  Bank  of  Prussia  was  established  June  17,  1765.  as  an  ex- 
change and  loan  bank,  with  a  capital  of  400,000  thalers. 

In  several  of  the  German  States  banks  were  founded  under  laws 
peculiar  to  each  one,  and  with  local  circulations,  but  the  union  of  these 
states  into  the  Fmpire  called  for  a  national  currency.  On  January  30, 
1875,  an  act  was  passed  which  met  this  demand.  The  Royal  Bank  be- 
came an  Imperial  Bank,  which  was  established  with  an  "uncovered"  or 
unsecured  issue  of  2  50,ooo;ooo  of  marks,  with  a  right  to  increase  this  issue 
if  one-third  the  increase  is  represented  by  cash  in  hand  and  two-thirds  by 
bills  not  having  more  than  three  months  to  run.  Thirty-two  other  banks 
were  permitted  to  have  an  "uncovered"  issue  to  the  extent  of  135,000,000 
of  marks,  and  to  exceed  their  authorized  issues  subject  to  the  pa)'ment 
of  5  per  cent  interest  on  the  excess  above  the  authorized  limit,  plus  the 
cash  in  hand.  No  note  is  issued  less  than  100  marks,  and  no  new  right 
of  issue  can  be  conceded  except  by  a  law  of  the  Empire.  The  State  itself 
has  power  to  issue  120,000,000  of  marks  in  state-notes  of  small  denomi- 
nations. There  are  but  nineteen  note-issuing  banks  in  the  Empire.  The 
Empire  shares  in  the  profits  and  superintends  the  conduct  of  the  Imperial 
Bank  (Reichs  Bank),  and  it  is  entitled  to  erect  branch  offices  in  an\-  part 
of  the  Empire.      Its  capital  is  about  $30,000,000. 

The  Bank  of  the  Netherlands,  at  Amsterdam,  \\as  first  chartered  in 
1 8 14,  with  the  Bank  of  England  as  a  model,  with  a  capital  of  5,000,000 
florins,  which  was  increased  to  10,000,000  in  1819.  and  to  15,000,000  in 
183S.      In  1863  it  was  re-chartered.      It  is  a  bank  of  deposit  and  issue. 

In  1 8 14  the  National  Bank  of  Copenhagen  took  the  place,  and  all 
the  debts,  claims,  rights  and  privileges  of  the  Rigs  Bank  in  Denmark, 
upon  the  cession  of  Norway  to  Sweden.  The  bank  was  obliged  to  main- 
tain the  notes  of  the  Rigs  Bank  at  their  par  value,  and  to  do  this  it  was 
required  to  collect  and  preserve  silver  coins,  bars  and  banco  mone\-  suffici- 
ent to  redeem  the  notes  when  presented.  The  proportion  of  cash  to  out- 
standing notes  has  usuall\-  been  from  one-half  to  two-thirtls.  The  batik 
also  receives  deposits  and  makes  loans  and  discounts.  It  was  required 
to  hold  silver  for  oiij-hilf  its  notes  in  circulation,  one-half  of  which  siKer 
must  bj  of  the  coin  ige  of  Denmark,  the  other  half  to  be  in  siK'er  bars  or 
Hamburg  banco.  In  184S  the  b  mk  was  permitted  to  substitute  sterling 
money  for  one-quartc.i  of  the  bmjo  In  1854  the  bmk  increased  its 
paper  m  )ney  from  ^2,222,000  to  ^2,65o,000,  the  increase  being  secured 
by  an  c(|ua!  amount  of  sterling  money  (one-quarter),  silver  bars,  (one- 
half),  and   banco,  (one-quarter).      In  1859   it  was  allowed  to  increase  its 


paper  issue  by  the  purchase  of  silver  bars.  From  i<S53  3  per  cent  inter- 
est was  paid  on  money  loaned  to  the  b.mk,  and  from  May  i,  i860,  the 
State  surplus  has  been  left  with  the  b;  nk.  which  pays  interest  upon  it. 
There  are  several  prixate  joint-stock  banks  in  Copenhagen  with  no 
peculiar  features. 

In  1830  the  "hjiskilda"  banks  were  first  organized  in  Sweden.  They 
arc  p;i\ate  banks  with  large  numbers  of  partners,  and  issue  notes  pa\'able 
in  siKer  or  in  notes  of  the  Riks  Bank. 

The  notes  issued  are  based  on  sound  securities,  the  Government's 
banking  law  being  a  model  ot  clearness  and  cautiou.^ness.  In  1884  the 
Post  Office  Sa\ings  Banks  were  established  in  Sweden,  to  receive  money 
\nder  guarantee  of  State,  allow  interest  upon  it,  and  by  accumulating  in- 
terest and  capital,  hold  it  at  the  disposal  of  depositors.  The  rate  of 
interest  is  fixed  by  the  King,  and  is  added  to  the  capital  at  the  end  of  each 
\-ear.  The  smallest  amount  received  on  deposit  is  one  kron;i.  All 
funds  are  invested  in  the  Bank  of  Sweden. 

The  National  Bank  of  Austria  was  established  in  Vienna,  in  i860, 
with  a  \icw  to  restoring  the  credit  of  the  Government.  It  has  the  exclus- 
i\e  privilege  of  issue,  and  in  return  loaned  the  State  80,000,000  florins 
without  interest.  It  established  numerous  branches  in  different  cities  in 
the  Empire.  On  December  24,  1867,  the  Government  established  a  forced 
currency,  and  consolidated  its  debts  to  the  National  Bank  into  one  loan  of 
$40,000,000,  and  re-organized  that  institution  into  the  Austro-Hungarian 
Bank,  extending  its  charter  to  January  i,  1888,  and  giving  it  the  exclus- 
ive right  to  issue  notes.  These  notes  are  payable  to  beaier  on  demand, 
in  coin  of  the  realm  at  Vienna  and  Buda-Pesth,  where  are  located  the  head 
offices  of  the  bank.  Should  any  of  the  notes  be  refused  payment  within 
twenty-four  hours  after  presentation,  further  issues  are  prohibited  and  the 
bank's  charter  is  forfeited.  The^e  notes  are  not  issued  for  sums  of  less 
than  S5.  and  issues  over  Si 00,000,000  must  be  secured  by  gold  or  silver 
coin  or  bullion.  Notes  issued  on  deposit  accounts  in  excess  of  the  amount 
of  the  reserve  of  the  bank  must  be  covered  by  banking  securities — dis- 
counted bills  and  notes,  loan  on  precious  metals,  convertible  note<,  redeem- 
able obligations,  or  coupons  of  the  Empire,  or  foreign  bills  of  exchange. 
The  bank's  affairs  are  administered  by  a  governor  nominated  by  the 
ICmperor,  two  deputy  governors,  and  a  board  of  twelve  directors. 

The  Bank  of  Norway  was  established  in  18 16,  its  capital  being  a 
forced  loan  raised  by  levying  a  tax  on  all  landed  property.  Each  tax- 
payer became  a  shareholder  in  the  bank  to  the  extent  of  his  payment,  and 
their  shares  soon  came  to  a  premium.  All  its  securities,  like  bills  or  notes, 
must  be  available  at  short  notice.  It  loans  its  own  notes' on  land,  the  loan 
being  but  two-thirds  of  the  value  of  the  security.  The  interest  paid  semi- 
annually by  borrowers  is  4  per  cent  per  annum,  and  5  per  cent  of  the 
principal  must  be  paid  each  year.  The  security  is  sold  in  case  of  non- 
pa}  nient.  The  bank  has  the  exckr^ive  privilege  of  issuing  notes,  which 
are  legal  tender  and  pa)-able  in  gold  on  demand. 

The  oldest  of  the  Belgium  banks  is  the  Socic'tc  Generate,  founded 
August  28,  1822,  with  a  capital  of  50,000,000  florins.  It  did  a  discount 
business  and  manage  the  Goverimient's  finances  until  Belgium  and  Holland 
separated,  when  that  branch  of  business  v\as  resigned  to  the  Bank  of 
Belgium  of  Brussels,  which  was  chartered  in  1835,  with  a  capital   of  20,- 


OOO.OOO  francs.  In  1838  the  Bank  of  Belgium  suspended  payment,  and 
again  in  1839,  the  Government  coming  to  its  assistance  each  time.  In 
1 84 1  its  capital  was  increa.sed  to  30,000,000  francs.  In  1850  the  man- 
agement of  the  Goxernment's  finances  was  relinguished  to  the  National 
Bank  of  Belgium,  of  Brussels,  organized  May  5,  1830 — a  joint  stock 
bank — with  a  capital  of  25,000,000  francs,  of  which  the  Socicte  Gemrale 
took  10,000,000  and  the  Bank  of  Belgium  15,000,000,  both  ceasing  to 
issue  notes  and  agreeing  to  abandon  their  discount  business.  Its  charter 
was  renewed  in  1872  and  its  capital  stock  increased  to  50,000,000  francs. 
It  pay  5  per  cent  dividends,  and  one-third  of  its  profits  above  6  per  cent 

goes  to  form  a  sink- 
ing fund.  Its  has  a 
governor,  six  directors 
and  a  council  of  cen- 
sors, and  the  funds  of 
the  State  are  kept  on 
deposit  in  its  vaults. 
The  Bank  of  Bel- 
gium now  has  a  cap- 
ital of  50,000,000 
francs,  and  the  Bank 
of  Flanders,  in  Ghent, 
has  a  capital  of  10,- 
000,000  francs. 

The  earliest  Swiss 
bank  of  issue  is  that 
of  St.  Gall,  which  dates 
from  1836.  At  the 
end  of  1 869  there  were 
nineteen  issuing  banks 
in  the  Swiss  Confed- 
eration. There  are 
now  thirty-three  legal- 
itcd  banks  of  issue. 
In  1885  their  average 
circulation  of  notes 
was  $23,822,183. 
There  are  325  savings 
banks,  the  deposits  in 
1882  being  $47,547,- 
428.85.  There  are 
also  162  other  banks 
of  dcp(jsil,  n.iostly  of  a  private  nature. 

Although  the  oldest  exi.sting  Italian  bank  dates  from  1622 — the 
Monte  de  i'ashi,  in  Siena — the  National  Bank  of  Italy  has  a  history  dating 
only  from  1850,  it  having  been  organized  b\'  consolidating  the  Bank  of 
Genoa,  founded  in  1844,  and  the  Bank  of  Turin,  founded  in  1847.  At 
its  organization  a  sum  was  to  be  paid  for  Ciovernment  superintendence,  and 
it  agreed  to  advance  tt)  the  State  a  sum  of  not  over  18,000,000  lire,  secured 
by  a  deposit  of  public  stocks  or  treasury  bonds  bearing  3  per  cent  interest, 
or  less   if  the  market   rate  was  lower  than  that.      Three  bank   seats  and 


LO(;.\N  C.   Ml  KK\^  . 
Vice-President  American   National  Hank,  Louisville,  Ky. 


33 

four  biiinch  banks  were  established,  ami  the  capital,  originally  40,000,000 
lire,  is  now  200,000,000  lire.  It  has  numerous  branches,  and  its  circula- 
tion is  national.  In  April,  1874.  the  Ciovernment  restricted  the  right  of 
i.ssuini:^  bank-notes  to  six  banks:  The  National  Bank  of  Italy;  the  Nati- 
«inal  Tuscan  Bank,  or<^anized  in  1857;  the  Roman  Bank,  1850;  the 
Tuscan  Bank  of  Credit,  i860;  the  Bank  of  Naples,  1816,  and  the  Bank 
of  Sicily,  1843.  This  law  authorized  the  Bank  of  Naples  to  increase  its 
c.ipital,  by  1885,  to  48,750,000  lire,  and  the  Bank  of  Sicily  to  12,000,000. 
The  National  Tuscan  Bank  had  a  capital  of  30,000,000  lire;  the  Roman 
Bank,  15,000.000,  and  the  Tuscan  Bank  of  Credit,  10,000,000.      By  this 

law  these  six  banks 
were  organized  into 
a  union,  which,  if  re- 
quired, should  furnish 
the  Government  i ,  - 
000,000,000  lire  in 
bank-notes,  but  by  a 
law  passed  April  7, 
1 88 1,  this  union  was 
terminated. 

There  are  also  num- 
bers of  "People's 
Banks,"  credit  soci- 
eties," Agrarian 
Banks,"  friendly  soci- 
eties, etc.,  the  People's 
Banks  increasing  \  cry 
rapidly. 

The  Imj:)erial  Bank 
of  Russia  was  founded 
in  i860,  to  regulate 
the  issues  of  currency 
and  aid  commerce.  Its 
capital  is  subscribed 
by  the  Government, 
and  it  is  managed  by  a 
committee  of  the  treas- 
ury. Its  charter  was 
to  run  for  twenty-eight 
years.  When  founded, 
its  capital  was  ^11,- 
875,000,  and  one  of 
its  principal  aims  was  to  restore  specie  pajments.  In  1864  the  circulation 
had  a  nominal  value  of  $630,000,000,  based  on  a  specie  reserve  of  but 
$43,330,000.  In  1877-78  the  currency  was  greatly  expanded  because  of 
the  Turkish  war.  The  bank  enjoys  the  sole  privilege  of  issuing  notes, 
and  it  has  numerous  branches.  There  are  more  than  two  hundred 
communal  Russian  banks. 

Greece  has  two  modern  banks,  the  National  of  Athens,  with  a  capital 
of  5540,000,  and  the  Ionian  Bank,  at  Corfu. 

Savings  banks   were  known   in  I'Airope  as  early  as    1765,  at  which 


1.  J.  (ikOCK, 
lirtsident  ( lalvtslun   National    Hank,  Galveston,    I'l 


34 

date  there  was  one  at  Brunswick.  In  1778  one  was  established  at 
Hamburg  which  still  exists.  In  1786  one  was  founded  at  Oldenburg,  in 
1790  one  at  Loire,  in  1792  one  at  Basel,  in  1794  one  at  Geneva,  and  in 
1796  one  at  Kiel,  in  Holstein.  In  Tjigland  the)'  had,  a  rapid  growth. 
In  1799  Rev.  Joseph  Smith  put  into  execution  Jeremy  Bentham's  sug- 
gestion by  the  establshment  at  Wendover  of  a  "frugality  bank."  In  1801 
Mrs.  Priscilla  Wakefield  established  a  saxings  bank  in  connection  with  a 
friendly  society,  and  others  followed  rapidly.  In  181 7  so  numerous  had 
they  become.  Parliament  passed  a  law  for  their  control.  Penn)'  banks 
have  lately  been  established  in  \'arious  cities  of  Great  Britain.  Saxings 
Banks  for  the  army  were  established  in  1842,  and  for  the  nav\-  in  1854. 
Several  railway  companies  maintain  savings  banks  for  their  employes. 
In  Norwa\- there  were  twenty-two  savings  banks  in  1840.  and  311  in 
1880,  of  which  249  were  rural.  In  Sweden  the  fir.st  savings  bank  was 
founded  in  18 13,  In  1840  there  were  fifty-eight,  and  in  1880  the  num- 
ber had  increased  to  340,  of  which  252  were  rural. 


CHAPTKR    \'. 

I'-AKIA'    AMERICAN     r..\NKlN(;. 

The  histor\-  of  banking  in  the  American  colonies  before  the  rexolu- 
tion  is  very  obscure,  and  nearly  ever}-  earU'  mention  of  "banks"  is  apt  to 
be  misleading.  The  word  "bank,"  as  used  by  the  colonists,  meant  simply 
a  batch  of  paper  money,  issued  by  one  of  the  provinces,  or  in  rare 
instances,  by  a  company  or  association  of  individuals  more  or  less 
directly  authorized  by  law.  The  modern  commercial  bank  of  deposit 
and  discount,  as  we  know  it,  did  not  exist,  because  there  was  no  business 
to  support  it.  There  was  no  equivalent  for  the  "moneyed-class"  of  to-day. 
The  capitalist  had  not  \'et  come.  With  few  excejitions.  men  in  ea.sy  cir- 
cumstances were  merchants  or  the  large  land  owners  then  everywhere 
called  "planters."  Men  of  property  derived  their  wealth  from  commerce 
or  agriculture,  and  re-invested  their  gains  in  land  or  trade.  The  popula- 
tion was  widel\-  scattered,  and  tlie  number  of  those  within  reach  of  any- 
one business  center,  having  cash  to  keep,  wa.s  too  few  to  make  its  custod\- 
and  handling  a  profitable  business  for  any  one.  P^ach  merchant  or 
planter  kept  his  own  cash  in  his  own  strong  box  at  his  own  house. 
When  a  note  or  draft  was  presented  he  counted  out  the  "broad  Joes,"  or 
hard  dollars,  to  pay  it,  if  it  were  during  one  of  the  rare  intcrxals  at  which 
specie  payments  were  in  vogue.  ( )ftener  the  paxnient  was  made  in  de- 
preciated paper  at  the  lluctuating  rate  of  discount,  at  which  it  just  then 
happened  to  be  current  This  discount  varied,  with  time  and  place,  from 
a  minimum  of  8  to  10  per  cent  to  a  common  rate  of  2  to  10  for  one.  In 
extreme  cases  this  tk-prcciation  reached  i. 000  of  the  debased  paper  for 
one  of  .specie. 

This  issue  of  a  depreciated  paper  as  an  expedient  for  the  relief  of 
every  real  or  supposeti  pecuniar)-  distress,  was  a  prominent  feature  of 
colonial  politics,  especially  in  New  ICngland  and  South  Carolina.  The 
exigencies  of  Indian  wars  and  numerous  futile  expediti(Mis  for  the  con- 
quest of  Canada   led   to   repeated  issues  of  bills  of  credit  by  the  Govern- 


35 

ments  of  the  several  provinces.  The  prompt  action  necessary  to  be  taken 
in  L^cttin^  up  these  expeditions,  made  it  impracticable  to  wait  for  the  lev)' 
and  collection  of  a  tax,  and  the  scarcety  of  capital  made  it  difficult  or  im- 
possible to  borrow  money  through  channels  commonly  resorted  to  in 
older  and  wealthier  States.  Bills  of  credit,  made  legal  tender,  operated 
as  a  forced  loan  without  exciting  the  opposition  and  clamor  which  would 
ha\e  followed  had  the  authorities  adopted  that  plan  without  disguise,  or 
had  they  openly  "pressed"  or  "requisitioned"  the  needed  stores  and  ma- 
teria! in  kind.  Wasteful  and  extravagant,  if  not  actually  ruinous,  as  such 
measures  al\\a\'S  prove  in  the  long  run,  the  exigencies  of  the  occasion 
.seemed  not  only  to  justify,  but  imperatively  to  demand  their  adoption  in 
these  cases.  We  of  this  generation  haxe  seen  measures,  which  we  now 
perceive  to  be  of  at  least  equal  foil}-,  promoted  and  sanctioned  by  the 
most  trusted  statesmen  of  the  day  as  a  "militar\' necessity."  Even  de- 
preciation enhanced,  in  some  respects,  the  popularity  of  these  forced 
issues,  as  it  afforded  debtors,  always  a  large  class,  especially  in  a  new 
country,  the  "cheap  money,"  which  enables  them  to  discharge  their  debts 
at  a  discount;  and  the  rise  in  prices,  in  proportion  to  the  depreciation  of 
the  currency,  gave  a  fallacious  appearance  of  general  prosperity.  The 
"scarcity  of  money,"  or  appreciation  ot  currency,  which  followed  a  re- 
demption and  withdrawal  of  a  portion  of  the  outstanding  paper,  was  rep- 
resented as  a  public  calamit}-.  This  apprehension  of  countless  imaginary 
ills  attendant  upon  any  "contractions  of  the  circulation,"  led  to  loan 
schemes  devised  and  sustained  by  that  restless,  unsettled  class,  numerous 
in  every  age  in  a  growing  community,  which  arrogates  to  itself  a  special 
claim  to  be  called  and  esteemed  "active  business  men,"  whose  members, 
under  the  guise  of  public  spirit,  strive  to  make  the  capital  of  the  rich  and 
the  labor  of  the  poor  alike  subserxient  to  their  own  selfish  schemes  for 
personal  profit. 

The  earliest  issue  of  paper  money  in  North  America  was  made  by 
the  French  Governor-General  of  Canada,  in  1685.  ^^t  that  time  the 
Indian  tribes  of  Central  New  York — the  redoubtable  Iroquois,  or  Five 
Nations — were  the  mo.st  dangerous  foes  of  New  France.  The  English 
colonies  were  not  )-et  strong  enough  to  attack  their  French  neighbors. 
The  Iroquois,  h(^we\er,  had  made  repeated  incursions  into  Canada,  cap- 
turing and  destroying  Montreal,  and  threatening  the  French  settlements 
with  complete  extinction.  In  1685  the  Marquis  de  Denonxille,  Governor- 
General  of  Canada,  set  on  foot  an  expediton  against  the  Senecas,  the  most 
westerly  of  the  Five  Nations,  and  to  furnish  funds  for  this  enterprise 
issued  "card  mone}', '  which  was  made  redeemable  in  bills  upon  France. 
In  1690  Massachusetts  issued  the  first  paper  monej-  emitted  within  the 
present  limits  of  the  United  States,  of  which  we  have  authentic  record. 
In  December  of  that  year  the  expedition  which  Sir  William  Phipps  had 
lead  against  Quebec — the  first  serious  attempt  by  the  English  colonies  at 
the  conquest  of  Canada — returned  to  Boston,  having  made  complete  fiil- 
ure.  There  was  no  money  in  the  treasury  to  pay  the  troops,  as  the  au- 
thorities had  relied  upon  the  spoil  which  a  successful  expedition  was  ex- 
pected to  bring  home,  to  meet  all  such  charges.  To  proxide  for  this 
emergency  the  General  Court  resolved:  that,  "Considering  the  present 
po\"ert\'  of  the  country,  and,  through  the  scarcity  of  mone\-,  the  want  of 
an  adequate  measure  of  commerce,"  bills  of  credit  in   notes  of  5  shillings 


to  is  •should  be  issued  "to  be  in  value  equal  to  money,  and  accepted  m 
all  public  payments"  The  first  issue  was  fixed  at  £7^000  subsequently 
increased  to  ^40,000.  equal,  as  Massachusetts  mone\'  was  then  rated,  to 
$133  333  Before  this  limit  was  reached,  however,  the  bills  sank  to  a 
discount  of  one-half  To  raise  their  credit  they  were  made  full  legal 
tender  In  1691  /i 0.000  of  this  paper  then  remainmg  m  the  treasury 
was  ordered  to  be  burned.  In  169?  it  was  ordered  that,  in  lieu  of  inter- 
est the  bills  should  be  received  by  the  treasury  at  a  premium  of  5  per 
cent  over  coin.  The.se  measures,  coupled  with  a  promi.^e  to  redeem  the 
entire  issue  in  twelve  months,  sufficed  to  bing  this  paper  to  par  and  to 

maintain  it  in  circula- 
tion at  that  point  for 
twent)-  years. 

South  Carolina  was 
the  first  to  follow  the 
example  of  Massachu- 
setts. In  1702,  be- 
ing then  the  most 
southerly  of  the  Eng- 
lish  colonies,  this 
province  attempted  to 
wrest  Florida  from  the 
Spaniards.  A  d  i  s- 
asterous  siege  of  St. 
Augustine  ended  the 
invasion  and  leit  the 
province  burdened 
with  debt.  Pleading 
the  example  "of  great 
,ind  rich  countries," 
,iik1  confident  that 
"funds  of  credit  have 
fully  answered  the 
ends  of  nionc}'.  and 
gi\-en  the  people  a 
quick  circulation  of 
their  trade  and  cash," 
the  colony  issued  bills 
of  credit  to  the  amount 
of  ^'6,000.  This  was 
to  be  paid  off  within 
three  years  b}'  a  tax 
and  New  Hampshire 


.sidciil    N.ili 


J.  S.    CHICK. 
iKil    l!;iiik  of  Kiinsas  Citv.   Kalls;^^  C'it 


(jn 


and   i)elti"ies.      In 


Kiuors  and  i)elti"ies.  in  1707  Rhode  Islaiu 
issued  their  first  bills  of  credit  to  provide  means  for  taking  part  with 
Massachusetts  in  tlie  attempted  concjuest  of  Acadia,  or  Nova  Scotia  from 
the  h'rench.  New  Nork,  Connecticut  and  New  Jersey  made  issues  of 
bills  of  cretiit  for  the  first  time  in  1709  to  equip  their  quotas  of  troops  to 
assist  in  another  futile  attcm])t  at  the  conquest  of  Canada,  and  in  171 3 
North  Carolina  "paid"  witli  l)ills  of  credit,  tlic  expenses  of  the  war  against 
the  Tuscaroras,  which  ended  in  the  expulsion  of  that  tribe  from  its  old 
home,  to  wonder  north waril   until  it  settled  in  western  New  \'ork  as  the 


37 

sixth  nation  ot  the  Iroquois  Confederacy.  \'ir^inia  issued  no  papc  until 
1755.  when  bills  were  emitted  to  equip  the  battalion  of  provincial  «nilitia, 
commanded  by  Washington,  which  accompanied  Hraddock's  disastrous 
expedition  acjainst  the  I'Vench  on  the  Ohio.  As  will  be  related  hereafter, 
Pennsylvania  and  Mar\-land  first  authorized  banks — issued  paper  money, 
that  is — to  be  loaned  to  their  i)eople  as  currency.  There  is  no  record  of 
any  considerable  or  authorized  issue  of  paper  in  any  form  in  Delaware  or 
Georgia  until  a  later  date.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  of  the  eleven  col- 
onies which  resorted  to  the  issue  of  paper  money,  before  the  revolution, 
in  the  case  of  nine  of  them  it  first  appeared  as  an  adjunct  of  military  en- 
terprise and  of  mili- 
tary defeat  and  dis- 
aster. 

South  Carolina  had 
issued  bills  of  credit 
in  1 702  to  meet  urg- 
ent  demands  upon 
the  treasury,  in  a  des- 
perate emergency.  In 
1 7 1  2  this  colony  in- 
vented a  modification 
of  the  original  plan, 
which  was  quickly 
imitated  by  most  of 
the  other  provinces. 
"To  defray  the  ex- 
pense of  an  expedition 
against  theTuscaroras 
and  to  advance  and 
accommodate  do- 
mestic trade,"  the 
Legislature  establish- 
ed a  "public  bank," 
and  issued  ^48,000 
in  bills  of  credit,  called 
bank-bills,  to  be  loan- 
ed out  at  interest,  to 
individuals  upon  real 
estate  and  personal 
security.  The  loans 
ran  for  twelve  years, 
to  be  repaid  one- 
twelfth  each  year.  In  this  case  the  military  necessity  was  used  only  as 
a  decent  pretext,  and  when  the  next  bank  was  authorized  the  cloak  was 
laid  aside.  Although  made  a  legal  tender,  these  bank-bills  were  early 
discredited,  and  before  the  end  of  the  \-earwere  current  only  at  a  discount 
of  one-third  of  their  nominal  value.  In  17 16  a  .second  "bank"  of  ^30,- 
000  was  ordered  to  be  loaned  out  on  the  same  terms  as  the  first.  This 
was  disallowed  by  the  Lords'  Proprietaries  of  the  colony  of  England,  in 
part  because  among  the  taxes  proxided  for  its  redemption,  a  duty  of  i^io 
per  head  was  imposed  on  all   negroes  imported.     This  was  the  first  and 


K.   I,.  DIRII.V.M. 
Vice-President  Cummercial   Nalinnal    I'aiik.    I'nrlhiiul,   <  )regon. 


38 

principal  cause  of  discontent  witn  the  Proprietary  <Tovernnient  which  led 
to  tumults  and  finally,  in  17 19,  to  an  open    insurrection  which  ended   in 
the  complete  subversion  of  the  Proprietary  authorities.     A  rexolutionary 
convention,  chosen  by  the  people,  assumed  the  manai,^ement  of  affairs, 
and  appealed  to  the  British  home  Government  for  relief.     The  English 
ministry  instituted  proceedings  to  revoke  the   Proprietary  charter,  pro- 
claimed South   Carolina  a  crown   colony,  and,  in  1721,  appointed  a  royal 
Governor,    in  1722  a  bill  was  introduced  in  the  Assembly  for  adding/' 120.- 
000  to  the  paper  money  of  the  colony.     Twenty-eight  of  the  principal 
merchants  of  Charlestown  protested  against  it,  and  in  their  remonstrance 
alleged  as  the  chief  cause  of  the  then  excessive  depreciation  of  paper  money, 
"that  every  legislative  engagement  for  recalling  the  various  emissions  of 
bills  hrd  been  broken  through  by  every  Assembly."      Provoked  by  this 
plain  statement  of  unpalatable  truth,  the  as.sembly  pronounced  the  mer- 
chant's petition  "a  false  and  .scandalous  libel,"  and  sent  the  petitioners  to 
prison  for  a  breach  of  privilege.     The  Governor  not  daring  to  interfere, 
they  were  released  only  on  payment  of  large  sum  by  way  ot  fees.     The 
bill  for  the  new  bank,  though  pa.ssed  by  the  Assembly,  was  disallowed  by 
the  English   Government,  and  the  Governor    "was  strickly  enjoined  to 
consent  to  no  new  law  for  creating  a  further  paper  currency,  neither  to 
any  act  for  diverting  the  sinking  fund  already  established."     At  least  a 
l)art  of  these  disallowed  "banks"  seems  to  have  been  issued,  however,  in 
sj^ite   of  the    prohibition,    for,    in    1725,    the    Assembly    resolved    that, 
"Whereas,  the  circulating  bank   money  is  already  reduced  to  ^87,000, 
and  is  likely  soon  to  be  entirely  paid  off."  there  was  grave  occasion  to 
apprehend  a  scarcity  of  money.       To  escape  this  imminent  disaster  the 
Assembh'  tacked  a  rider  on  the  annual   revenue  aud  appropriation  bill, 
.stopping  tho  redemption  and  withdrawal   of  the  bank  paper.     The  Gov- 
ernor and  Council  proposed  to  .strike  out  this  provision;  but  the  Assembly 
denied  their  rights  to  amend  mone\-  bills,  and  left  them  to  choo.'^e  bet- 
ween a  breach  of  their  instrnctions  and  a  failure  of  supplies.      Next  \ear, 
1726,  this  policy  was  followed  up  b\'  a  bill  for  the  issue  of  another  bank, 
which  the  (jovernor's  Council  again  refused  to  pass.     The  planters  then 
entered  into  a  combination  to  pay  no  taxes,  alleging  their  inability  to  do 
so  unless  aided  Ijy  the  issue  of  more  bank  bills.     When,  ni  1727.  a  cons- 
picuous member  of  this  association  was  arrested  and  imprisoned,  the  Chief 
Justice  denied  him  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  on  the  ground  that  his  offense 
amounted  to  high  treason,  and  was  not  bailable.     After  an  acrimonious 
controversy   in  the  Courts  and   in  the   .\ssembl\-,  two   hundred  and   fift\- 
horsemen  entered  Charleston  from  the  neighboring  countr\-  and  compelled 
his  liberation.     The  As.sembly  impeached  the  Chief  Justice,  because  in- 
voked in  a  violent  cjuarrel  with  the  Gcwernor  and  his  Counc'l,  adjourned 
themselves  of  their  own  motion,  and   when   again   summoned,  refused  to 
attend.     This  disortler  lasted   until  1730,  when   a   new    Ro\al   Governor 
came  out,  and  a  new  council  was  appointed,  from  wliicli   were  omitted  all 
those  who  had  been  most  strenuous  for  obexingtlie  ro\al  instructions  for- 
bidding further  emissions  of  bills.     The  paper  money  part}'  thus  strength- 
ened, the  Assembl}'  suspended  tlie   ledeniption   of  all   outstanding  bills, 
and  voted  another  issue  of  ^'104,000,  both   of  which   measures  seem   to 
have   obtained  the   (ioxernor's  assent.      In    ^J^^C)   still    another   bank    of 
/.  100,000  was  anthori/xd.  to  be  loaned  out  at  S  percent  \'\kv  the  prexious 


39 

issues.  Before  the  time  the  bank-bills  had  steadily  depeeiated  until  they 
reached  a  discount  of  seven  of  paper  for  one  of  specie,  at  which  the  cur- 
rency of  South  Carolina  remained,  almost  without  variation,  until  the  eve 
of  the  revolution/'^  The  case  of  South  Carolina  is  perhaps  the  only  ins- 
tance in  which  the  never-ending  controversy  between  tne  advocates  of 
expansion  and  those  who  favor  a  contraction  of  the  currency  led  to  a 
complete  and  radical  change  in  the  form  of  government. 

As  South  Carolina  was  the  first  to  follow  the  example  of  Massachu- 
setts in  issuing  bills  of  credit  to  meet  demands  upon  the  public  treasury,  so 
Massachusetts  was  the  first  to  adopt  the  plan  devised  in  South  Carolina 
of  manufacturing  paper  money  to  be  loaned  out  for  the  promotion  of  trade. 
As  we  have  seen,  the  earliest  issue  of  bills  of  credit  was  made  by  Massa- 
chusetts in  1690  to  meet  the  cost  of  Phipps'  futile  attempt  on  Quebec. 
The  next  resort  to  the  same  device  in  this  province  was  in  171 1,  when 
bills,  amounting  to  ^40,000,  were  issued  and  paid  out  directly  by  the 
Cio\ernment  to  equip  the  New  England  troops  attached  to  the  even-more 
disastrous  expedition  led  by  the  English  Admiral,  Sir  Hovenden  Walker, 
against  the  same  forteress.  In  1714a  very  general  agreement  had  grown 
up  in  Massachusetts  in  favor  of  the  loan  system  of  issuing  paper,  but 
differences  arose  as  to  the  precise  method  of  carrying  it  out.  The  more 
achenturous  and  sj^eculative  element  proposed  a  private  bank,  to  be  in- 
corporated by  the  (leneral  Court,  to  issue  bills  on  its  own  credit  and  res- 
ponsibilit}-.  (3thers  preferred  the  indorsement  of  the  colony  and  proposed 
to  issue  colony  bills,  as  heretofore,  to  be  loaned  on  landed  security  for  a  term 
of  years,  the  interest  and  one-twentieth  of  the  principal  to  be  paid  annually. 
If  this  scheme  was  adhere  to,  the  whole  debt  would  be  paid  of  and  the  en- 
tire issue  of  paper  redeemed  and  retired  in  twenty  years.  In  the  meantime 
the  interest  would  reduce,  b\-  so  much,  the  amount  necessar)-  to  be  raised 
by  taxation  for  the  current  expense  of  the  colony.  An  inconsiderable 
party  opposed  all  bills  of  credit,  and  argued  in  favor  of  a  specie  currency 
and  a  real  bank  of  deposit  and  discount;  but  these  were  stigmatized  as 
"capitalits"  and  "money  princes,"  and,  finding  the  drift  of  public  sentiment 
almost  wholl)-  in  favor  of  an  issue  of  paper  money  of  some  sort,  were  soon 
compelled  to  come  to  the  support  of  the  provincial  issue,  called  the  "public 
bank,"  as  the  least  objectionable  ot  the  two  plans  most  in  favor.  According  to 
Hutchinson,  the  party  favoring  the  "private  bank"  was  composed  generally 
of  persons  in  difficult  or  involved  circumstances,  or  such  as  were  possessed 
of  land,  but  had  no  command  of  ready  money,  or  men  of  no  substance  at 
all.  They  proposed  to  issue  bills  which  all  the  members  of  the  company 
promised  to  receive  as  "money,"  but  at  no  fixed  \alue  as  com])ared  with 
gold  or  silver.  The  Assembly  rather  favored  this  plan  owing  to  the  sup- 
port given  it  by  the  Bo.ston  members,  but,  after  a  long  struggle,  the  party 
for  the  "public  bank"  prevailed  in  the  General  Court  for  a  loan  of  ^50,000 
in  bills  of  credit,  which  were  put  into  the  hands  of  five  tru.stees.  to  be 
loaned  for  five  years  only,  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  several  towns  in  the 
latio  of  their  taxes,  in  sums  of  ^^50  to  ;^500,  on  real  estate  mortgage,  at 
5  per  cent  interest,  one-fifth  of  the  principal  to  be  paid  each  year.f 

Certainly  no  .scheme  for  the  emission  of  bills  of  credit  ever  was  more 
careful  devised  or  more  scrupulously  guarded.  But  having  thus,  once 
for  all,  demon.strated  their  prudence  and  caution,  the  people  and  author- 
ities of  Mas.sachu. setts  proceded  to  give  full  suing  to  their  conviction  that 


40 

it  was  impossible,  in  a  state  of  colonial  dependence,  to  maintain  a  metallic 
currency,  and  that  it  was  the  duty  of  Government  to  provide  a  currency 
made  and  kept  equal  to  the  requirements  of  trade  and  commerce.      New 
issues  of  bills  of  credit  were  made  for  the  payment  of  ordinary,  current 
expenses,  and  to  supply  deficiencies  of  inadequate  tax  levies.     Provisions 
made  for  the  payment  of  old  issues  were  repealed  or  ignored  and  new 
issues  made  with  no  present  purpose  of  redemption.     The  efforts  of  the 
Governor  and  Council  to  restrain  these  issues  were  unavailing,  the  Gov- 
ernor's consent,  or  connivance  in  disobedience  of  his  instructions,  being 
extorted  by  withholding  his  salary.      In  1733  there  was  a  general  com- 
plaint throughout  the 
four  New  England  co- 
lonies of  the  unusual 
scarcity  of  m  o  n  e  }'. 
There  was  as  large  a 
sum  current  in  bills  of 
credit  as  e\er,  but  the 
bills  having  deprecia- 
ted, they  answered  the 
purpose  of  money  so 
much  the  less  in  pro- 
portion.    Massachu- 
setts and  New  Hamp- 
shire, restrained  by  the 
instructions   of  their 
RoN'al  Go\ernors,  had 
not  issued  bills  to  so 
great  an  amount  as 
Rhode  Island.      Con- 
necticut, being  an  agri- 
cultural  colony,  with 
fewer  traders,  did   not 
so  nuich  feel  the  want 
of  mone}^  The  people 
of    Massachusetts 
complained   bitterly 
that   Rhode  Island 
hills   should    circulate 
among  them   to   take 
away  their  substance 
to  be  employed  in  the 
trade  of  the  sister  co- 
lon)-, and  mail)'  wi^lud  to  sec  the  hills  of  cich  colon}'  forbidtien  to  circu- 
late outside  the   limits  of  that  h)-  which  the\-  were  issued.      In  the  mi-dst 
of  this  discontent  an  act  was  passed  in    Rhode   Island   for  a  new  issue  of 
^100,000,  to  be  loaned  to  its  peopK'  for  twenty  years,  who,  it  was  argued, 
would  thus   have  it   in   their  power  to  add  that  sum  to  their  wealth,  by 
purchases  of  horses,  sheep,  lumber,  fish,  etc.,  from  the  people  of  Massa- 
chusetts.    The  merchants  of  Boston  thereupon  confederated  ami  mutualh- 
pronused  and  engaged  not  to  receive  an\-  Rhode  Island  bills  of  this  new 
emission.      Then,  to  prt)\ide  a  currenc\-  to  fill  the  \-oid  in  the  circulation. 


M.   W  .   l-l.Ol   KNOV. 
ViL-c-l'icsi<l.-iil    I'iisl    N;iliiiii;il    II. ink.   .\1Iuiihh.-i-.hr- 


41 

w  hich.it  seemed  to  be  universally  agreed  this  action  would  occasion,  a  large 
number  of  Boston  merchants  formed  themselves  into  a  company,  entered 
into  covenants  in  co-partnershij),  etc.,  chose  directors,  anj  issued  ^,'i  lO,- 
ooo  in  their  own  bills,  redeemable  in  ten  years  in  sjiver  at  nineteen 
shillings  to  the  ounce,  the  then  current  rate,  but  being  about  three  times 
the  true  or  specie  value,  according  to  Massachusetts  standard,  or  in  gold 
in  the  same  proportion,  one-tenth  part  annually.  About  the  .same  time 
the  Massachusetts  treasury,  which  had  long  been  closg^^  ^vas  opened  and 
the  debts  of  several  years  were  paid  at  one  time  in  bJUg  of  credit.  To 
this  was  added  the  ordinary  emissions  of  bills  from   ^Q-^y  Hampshire  and 

Connecticut.  Then 
some  of  the  Boston 
merchants,  tempted 
by  the  opportunity, 
broke  their  engage- 
ment and  received  the 
Rhode  Island  bills,  an 
example  which  all  the 
rest  were  speedily 
forced  to  follow.  All 
these  issues  made  a 
flood  of  paper  money, 
before  which  silver — 
then  standing  nomi- 
nally at  nineteen  shil- 
lings to  the  ounce — 
rose  to  twenty-seven 
shillings  to  the  ounce, 
or,  rather  the  paper 
which  stood  at  about 
three  to  one  for  specie, 
sank  to  a  discount  of 
four  and  one-half  of 
paper  for  one  of  specie, 
livery  creditor  was 
thus  defrauded  of 
nearly  one-half  of  his 
just  dues.  As  soon 
as    silver    rose    to 


i.   N 


l'r<;>ident    Nittional    K: 


SIMPSON. 
I  halite   I'.an'k. 


Dull 


,xas.  twenty-seven  shillings 

the    ounce,  the    notes 

issued  by  the  Merchants'   Association,  paj'able  at  nineteen   shillings  to 

the  ounce,  were  hoarded  up  as  too  valuable  for  e\er\'-day  serxice,  and  no 

longer  used  for  the  purposes  of  money. 

As  early  as  1732  the  English  Government  began  to  in.struct  the 
Royal  Governor  of  Massachusetts  to  consent  to  no  further  issue  of  bills 
of  credit  to  remain  current  longer  than  the  time  fixed  for  the  redemption 
of  that  already  in  circulation,  the  last  of  which  would  mature  in  1741. 
It  would  have  been  easy  to  raise  each  year,  by  taxation,  a  sum  sufficient 
to  pay  the  current  expenses,  and  to  redeem  all  the  paper  maturing  during 
that  year.      Instead  of  pursuing  this  cour.se,  the    wisdom  of   which  so 


42 

plainly  appears,  the  revenue  from  taxation  was  allowed  to  fall  below  the 
necessar\-  and  inevitable  expenditure,  so  that  not  only  were  the  bills  ma- 
turin<^  allowed  to  go  unredeemed,  but  new  paper,  to  fall  due  in  1741, 
was  each  year  emitted.     As  the  time  for  the  pa}-ment  of  this  great  mass 
of  paper  drew  near,  and  as  hope  grew  fainter  that  the  policy  against  new- 
issues  would  be  relaxed  and  the  promised  pa>ment  of  the  bills  in  some 
way  evaded,  a  great  clamor  arose  against  the  Governor,  who,  in  spite  ot 
all  attempts  to  starve  him  into  compliance  by  witholding  his  salary,  ad- 
hered resolutely  to  his  instructions.      In  1 740  it  became  apparent  that  it 
was  impossible  to  levy  in  one  year  a  tax  sufficient  to  discharge  all  these 
accumulations.     A   general   dread  of  the  further  depreciation    or   entire 
withdrawal  of  the  currency  took  possession  of  nearly  the  whole  people. 
Hutchinson,  the  historian  of  Massachusetts,  did,  indeed,  propose  to   the 
General  Court  to  borrow  in   England  a  sum  in  silver  equal  to  the  bills 
then    extant,    and    therewith    to    redeem    those    bills    and    thus    furnish 
the  colony  with  a  sound  currency ;  the  repayment   of  the   loan    to   be 
spread   over    several    years    so    as    to    escape    burdensome    taxation    in 
any  one.      Hut  this  plan   was  rejected  in  favor  of  what  was  called  the 
land  bank,  or  manufactory  scheme.     It  being  held  that  the  royal  instruc- 
tions against  bills  of  credit  were  no  bar  to  private  action,  the  projector 
and  chief  advocate  of  the  "private  bank"  of  i/ 14,  hereinbefore  mentioned, 
"put  himself  at  the  head  of  some  seven  or  eight  hundred  persons,  some 
tew   of  rank   and   good   estate,  but  generally  of  low   condition,   of  small 
estate,  and  many  of  them  insolvent.     This  notable  company  were  to  give 
credit  to   /' 150,000   lawful   money,  to  be   issued  in   bills,  each  person  to 
mortgage  land  in  proportion  to  the  sum  he  subscribed  and  took  out,  or 
to  give  bond  with  two  sureties,  but  personal  security  was  not  to  be  taken 
for  more  than  ;^ioo  from  an\'  one  person."     Ten  directors  and  a  treas- 
urer were  to  be  chosen  by  the  compan)-.      Kveiy  subscriber  or  partner 
was  to  pay  3  per  cent  interest  on  the  sum  taken  out,  and  5  per  cent  an- 
nually of  the  principal.      He  that  did  not  pay  his  dues  in  provincial  bills 
might  pay  in  the  produce  and  manufacture  of  the  province,  at  such  rates 
as  the  directors  should  fix  from  time  to  time,  and  as  they  should  com- 
monly i^ass  for  lawful  money.      It  was  claimed  by  its  friends,  that  by  thus 
providing  a  medium  and  currency  for  trade,  not  onl}-  would  the  people 
be   better  able   to   procure  provincial  bills  to  pa\-  their  taxes,  but  trade, 
both  foreign  and  inland,  would  revive  and  flourish.      The  principal  mer- 
chants  refused  to   receive  the  bills,  though    they  had  a   large  currency 
among  the  smaller  sho])-keepers,  mechanics  and  farmers.      To  lessen  the 
temptation  to  receive  the.se  bills  of  the  land   bank,  a  number  of  leading- 
merchants  agreed  to  issue  their  own   notes,  or  bills,  payable  in  siKer  at 
the  end  of  fifteen  years,  much  like  the  private  bank  of  1733,  and  dubbed 
their  scheme  the   "siKer  bank."     The   Governor  issued  a  proclamation 
forbidding  either  of  these  companies  to  issue   bills.      Hut  both   did   make 
large  emissions  in  defiance  of  the  prohibition.      The  (io\ernor  and  Coun- 
cil then  applied  to  the  English  Parliament,  which,  early  in  1741,  declared 
that  the  law  commonly  called  the  Bubble  Act,  passed  twenty  \'ears  before 
on  the  breaking  of  the  South  Sea  bubble,  which  prohibited  the  formation 
of  unincorporated   joint-stock    companies  with    more   than   six   members, 
applied  to  all  the  American  Colonics.     This  declaratory  legislation,  giving 
retroactive  effect  to  an  old  statute,  was  at  the  same  time  cautiously  cited 


43 

as  "an  instance  of  the  transcendent  power  of  Parliament."  It  was.  in 
substance  if  not  in  form,  ex  post  facto  legislation  of  a  specially  dangerous 
and  pro\'oking  type,  and  became,  in  the  end,  one  of  the  strongest  induce- 
ments to  the  prohibition  of  such  laws  which,  not  many  years  later,  was 
incorporated  in  express  terms  in  every  American  Constitution.  Both  the 
banks,  or  companies,  were  dissohed.  The  members  or  partners  were 
held  individually  liable  for  the  entire  mass  of  their  notes,  not  at  the  de- 
preciated rates  at  which  they  had  been  issued,  but  at  par  wath  accrued 
interest,  The  nianufactor\'  or  land  bank  scheme  especially,  the  affairs  of 
w  hich  remained  unsettled  and  in  the  utmost  confusion  for  several  years, 
pro\ed  extremely  ruinous  to  all  such  jiersons  concerned  in  it  as  had  an\-- 
thing  to  lose,  l^arnest  efforts  on  behalf  of  these  unfortunate  speculators, 
of  whom  his  father  was  one,  first  introduced  into  politics  Samuel  Adams, 
afterward  so  celebrated,  then  a  young  man,  a  recent  graduate  of  Harvard, 
designed  for  the  ministry  but  compelled  by  his  father's  ruin  and  shortly 
ensuing  death,  to  adopt  a  more  active  life.  In  1741  a  new  royal  Gov- 
ernor was  appointed  who  construed  his  instructions  as  aimed  only  at  pre- 
venting a  further  emission  of  depreciated  currency  or  a  further  deprecia- 
tion of  that  already  afloat.  Holding  that  it  did  not  matter  how  large  a 
sum  in  bills  was  current  if  only  their  value  was  secured,  and  that  neither 
the  spirit  of  his  instructions  required,  nor  the  circumstances  of  the  case 
permitted,  the  literal  obser\ance  of  that  proportion  of  them  which  directed 
the  redemption  of  all  outstanding  paper  in  that  one  year,  a  scheme  was 
patched  up  which  seemed  to  promise  at  least  a  brief  postponement  of  the 
evil  da)-.  The  General  Court  passed  and  the  Governor,  after  obtaining 
at  least  the  tacit  approval  of  the  English  Ministry,  assented  to  an  act  in- 
tended to  establish  an  ideal  measure  af  value  in  all  trade  and  dealings, 
let  the  instrument  of  exchange  be  what  it  would.  This  declared  that  all 
contracts  should  be  understood  to  be  payable  in  siKer  at  6s.  8d.  per 
ounce.  The  true  value  of  silver  at  that  time  was  about  5s,  2d.  sterling 
per  ounce,  but  the  old  Pine  Tree  coinage  of  Massachusetts  had  been 
light  weight  and  6s.  8d,  of  that  currency  had  been  coined  from  an  ounce 
of  silver,  so  the  standard  now  fixed  was  that  which  had  obtained  before 
the  first  issue  of  paper  and,  to  that  extent,  was  an  honest  one.  Rills  of 
a  new  form  were  issued  which  bore  on  their  face  a  promise  to  pa\-  three 
ounces  of  silver  for  every  twenty  shillings  of  their  nominal  value.  These 
were  made  a  legal  tender  for  all  dues,  public  and  private.  It  was  also 
])rovided  that  in  case  they  should  depreciate  in  value  an  addition  should 
be  made  in  all  debts  equal  to  the  depreciation  of  the  currency  from  the 
time  of  contract  to  that  of  payment.  How  to  ascertain  the  depreciation 
from  time  to  time  was  the  great  difficulty  in  framing  the  act.  To  leave 
it  to  a  common  jury  never  would  do,  nor  could  the  impartial  integrity  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  be  trusted.  At  length  it  w.is  agreed  that 
the  eldest  member  from  each  county,  ot  the  Council,  a  body  answering 
in  some  measure  to  our  present  State  Senates,  should  meet  together  once 
a  year  and  ascertain  and  declare  the  depreciation.  But  the  measure  af- 
forded no  real  relief  The  counselors  appointed  to  estimate  the  deprecia- 
tion seldom  had  the  firmness  to  make  the  full  allowance  as  there  was  a 
popular  outcry  against  every  addition  made  to  the  fixed  discount.  No 
effectual  steps  were  taken  for  the  redemption  and  withdrawal  of  either 
the  new  issue  or  any  of  its  predece.ssor's,  save  those  made  b\'  the  prixate 


44 

companies.  Things  went  from  bad  to  worse.  The  confusion  of  the  cur- 
rcncx'  was  such  as  seriously  to  cripple  foreigh  and  domestic  trade.  The 
depreciation  increased  and  financial  chaos  seemed  to  be  near  at  hand. 

The  authorities  of  Massachusetts  .seemed  now  to  be  possessed  of  a 
spirit  near  akin  to  desperation.  For  the  operations  which  resulted  in  the 
capture  of  Louisberg  and  conquest  of  Cape  Breton  in  1745,  and  for  the 
.several  attempts  at  the  reduction  of  the  other  French  Colonies  made  in 
1746  and  1747,  this  province  issued  new  bills  of  credit  to  the  nominal 
value  of  more  than  ^^2,000,000.  These  were  paid  out  by  the  treasur}^ 
at  an  average  discount  of  eleven  or  twelve  of  paper  for  one  of  specie.      It 

becoming  apparent 
that  either  redemption 
or  repudiation  must 
be  faced  in  the  near 
future,  the  General 
Court  was,  though 
with  difficulty,  per- 
suaded to  le\}'  taxes 
sufficient  to  retire  a 
considerable  portion 
of  the  redundant  pa- 
per, In  1747,  on  the 
application  of  the 
agent  of  the  province, 
the  English  Govern- 
ment granted  Massa- 
chusetts an  allowance 
of  ;^i 80,000  for  the 
partial  reimbursement 
of  the  expenses  of  the 
conquest  of  Caj^e 
IJreton.  This  sum 
would  become  availa- 
ble, in  specie,  in  1749. 
Thomas  H  utchinson, 
the  historian,  who  was 
then  speaker  of  the 
Hou.se  of  Representa- 
tives, who  also  was 
warmly  supjiorted  by 
Ciovernor  Shirly,  per- 
ceived in  this  a  favor- 
able (jpportunity  for  abplishing  the  bills-of-credit  .sy.stem  and  substitute  a 
.stable  currency  of  silver  and  gold  for  the  future.  About  £2,200,000  in 
bills  would  be  outstanding  in  the  year  1 749.  At  eleven  for  one — although 
the  current  rate  was  twelve  for  one — ^' 1 80,000  sterling  would  redeem 
^* 1, 980,000,  which  would  lea\e  but  /:220,ooo  outstanding.  It  was  there- 
fore proposed  that  the  sum  thus  granted  by  Parliament  should  be  ship- 
ped to  the  province  in  Spanish  milled  dollars,  and  applied  to  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  bills,  so  far  as  it  would  serve,  and  that  the  remainder  of  the 
bills  should  be  drawn  in  by  a  tax  for  the  year  1749.      This  would  dispo.se 


JACOB    lURTH. 

I'rcsidcnt   I'linci  Sdiiiul  National   Hank  and  Peoples  Savings  Bank, 

Seattle,  Washinnlon. 


45 

of  the  bills.  For  the  future,  silver  of  sterling  fineness  at  6s.  (Sd.  the  ounce 
if  paid  in  bullion,  or  in  milled  dollars  at  6s.  each,  should  be  the  lawful 
money  of  the  colony,  and  no  person  within  the  province  should  receive 
or  pay  bills  of  credit  of  any  of  the  other  English  Colonies.  When  it  be- 
came known  that  a  bill  for  an  act  on  these  lines  had  been  introduced  in 
the  Provincial  House  of  Representatixes,  a  great  clamor  was  raised 
against  it.  It  was  said  that  the  greater  part  of  the  people  were  no  suf- 
ferers from  a  depreciating  currency,  as  the  number  af  deJDtors  was  always 
greater  than  that  of  creditors.  Even  those  who  were  for  a  stable  cur- 
renc)'  were  divided.     Some  argued  that  the  paper  might  be  so  reduced 

volume  as  to  be  fixed 
and  stable  in  value, 
and  therefore  were  for 
redeeming  only  so 
many  bills  as  should 
be  agreed  to  be  super- 
fluous. Others,  in- 
cluding many  of  good 
standing  and  good 
sense,  were  for  finish- 
ing the  bills,  but  in  a 
gradual  way,  other- 
wise, they  said,  a  fatal 
shock  would  be  gi\'en 
to  business.  The  bills,  it 
was  said,  had  sunk 
g  r  a  d  u  a  1 1 }'  to  o  n  e  - 
twelfth  their  original 
value,  and  as  by 
this  means  creditors 
had  been  defrauded, 
it  was  but  reasonable 
that  they  should  rise 
gradually  that  justice 
might  be  done.  To 
this  it  was  answered 
that  the  creditors  and 
the  debtors  would  not 
be  the  same,  so,  that 
instead  of  righting  one 
wrong,  another  injust- 
ice would  be  done;  the 
injury  being  the  same  when  one  is  obliged  to  i)ay  more, as  when  he  is  forced 
to  receiv^e  less,  than  is  justly  due.  Others  were  for  exchanging  the  bills  for 
silverata higher  rate, the  Boston  representatives  favoring  a  ratio  ofaboutfive 
to  one,  which  would  have  given  an  exorbitant  profit  upon  that  redeemed, 
and  would  have  left  more  tlian  half  the  volume  outstanding.  These  were 
the  objections  urged  by  the  most  reasonable  and  most  intelligent.  The 
strongest  opposition  came  from  the  ignorant  and  the  interested  who 
strove  to  impress  the  people  with  the  contradictor)-  ideas,  first,  that  no 
redemption  should  be  made  because  if  there  were  no  other  money  than 


J.  II.   .\I<GR.A\V. 

President  of  First  National  Bank,  Seattle,  Washington, 
<  Jovernor  of  the  State  of  Washington. 


46 

silver  it  would  be  engrossed  and  hoarded  by  the  rich,  and  that  the  poor 
would  get  no  share  of  so  precious  a  commodity;  and  second,  that  if  the 
bills  were  redeemed  at  all  it  should  be  at  their  nominal  and  not  at  their 
actual  value.  After  debating  the  bill  for  many  weeks  the  Assembl}-  reached 
a  vote  upon  the  proposition  as  a  whole,  and,  after  once  rejecting  the  bill, 
finally  passed  it.  After  this  fa\orable  action  the  measure  speedily  re- 
ceived the  sanction  of  the  other  branche-;  of  the  General  Court  and 
became  a  law  early  in  1750. 

The  indemnity  money  having  arrived  in  .specie,  the  paper,  amid  much 
public  gloom  and  doubt,  was  redeemed  at  a  rate  about  one-fifth  less  than 
the  current  value;  and  for  the  next  quarter  of  a  century  Massachusetts 
enjoyed  the  blessing  of  a  sound  currency.  Re.solved  to  drive  the  other 
New  England  colonies  into  the  same  measure  she,  in  the  redemption 
legi.slation  of  1750,  prohibited  the  circulation  of  their  paper  within  her 
limits.  Connecticut  called  in  and  retired  her  bills  of  credit,  but  Rhode 
Island,  the  most  persistently  given  to  inflation  of  any  of  the  old  colonies, 
refused  to  follow  the  lead  of  her  more  conservative  neighbors.  Forget- 
ting former  constitutional  scruples  as  to  the  extent  of  parliamentary  right 
to  interfere  with  the  domestic  affairs  of  the  colonies.  Massachusetts,  in 
1 75  I,  applied  for,  and  obtained  an  Act  of  Parliament  prohibiting  the  New 
England  Assemblies,  except  in  case  of  war  or  invasion,  to  issue  any  bills 
of  credit,  for  the  redemption  of  which,  within  the  year,  provision  was  not 
made  at  the  time  of  issue,  and  expressly  forbidding  that  any  such  bills 
should,  in  any  case,  be  made  a  legal  tender. 

The  experience  of  the  other  colonies  issuing  paper  money,  was,  on 
the  whole,  very  like  that  of  Massachusetts  and  South  Carolina.  In  some 
of  them  matters  came  to  a  worse  pass,  in  others  the  trouble  never  reached 
so  grave  a  stage.  The  expansion  and  depreciation  and  attendant  disorder 
were  greatest  in  Rhode  Island  and  least  in  PennsyKania.  We  have 
already  noted  the  circumstances  under  which  Rhode  Island,  in  1707,  first 
issued  bills  of  credit.  In  171  5  this  colony  authorized  its  first  "bank,"  on 
the  plan  of  South  Carolina  and  Massachusetts,  for  ^^30,000  to  be  loaned 
out  for  ten  years.  In  1728  the  time  forpaj^mcnt  was  extended  to  thirteen 
years,  and  then  ten  y-ears  more  were  allowed,  without  interest  beyond  the 
were  issued  for  currentpublic  expenditures  which  should  have  been  me  first 
thirteen  )-ears.  In  1721  a  second  bank  of  ^40,000,  was  issued  and  loanen 
out  for  fi\e  \ears,  which  term  in  1728  was  also  extended  to  thirteen  \-ears, 
and,  at  the  same  time  the  interest  madejxiyable  in  hemp  or  flax.  In  1733 
a  new  bank  of  ^,'100,000  was  struck  off  and  loaned  out.  Rills  of  credit 
by  taxation,  and  loan  banks  were  authorized  on  any  and  e\er\-  pretext. 
Those  who  took  loans  after  the  expiration  of  a  portion  of  the  period  for 
which  each  bank  was  lent  out,  complained  that  thc\-  were  compelled  to 
pay  back  within  a  time  shorter  than  that  for  w  hich  those  u  ho  borro\\ed 
when  the  bank  or  loan  was  new  were  allowed  to  enjoy-  the  use  of  the 
money.  These  and  other  applicants  for  loans  clamored  for  new  banks  on 
the  ground  of  "justice"  and  "equally."  All  who  hatl  recci\ed  loans  were 
heartily  in  fa\or  of  new  banks  as  the  currency  tlepreciated  with  each  issue 
and  they  were  thus  the  more  easily  able  to  pay  back.  Hut  repayment  of 
these  loans  was  tiie  exception  rather  than  the  rule.  Titles  to  mortgaged 
estates  were  found  to  be  in  such  confusion  that  little  could  be  made  from 
tliein.       The    K-gisl.itnre    was    composed  too  largely  of  men   who  were 


47 

themselves  boiTO\vcr.s  to  allow  any  effectual  measures  for  collection  to  be 
taken.  Foreclosures  were  rare  and  did  not  pa)'  expenses  of  the  jjroceed- 
iuL^s.  In  1750  the  ninth  loan  bank  was  authorized  to  pay  a  bounty  on 
manufactures  of  wool  and  on  the  cod  and  whale  fisheries.  The  several 
issues  were  then  at  \arious  stages  of  depreciation,  "old  tenor"  standing  at 
about  eight  or  nine  of  paper  for  one  of  specie.  The  Act  of  Parliament  of 
175  I,  forbidding  further  issues  of  paper  save  under  the  restrictions  noted 
in  the  account  gi\en  abo\-e,  of  affairs  in  Massachusetts,  stopped  further 
issues  for  a  time.  But  the  quantity  of  paper  in  circulation  was  so  large 
that  the  shrinkrage  continued,  and  when,  in  1763,  the  courts  fixed  a  scale 
of  depreciation  for  the  settlement  of  old  debts,  it  put  the  Spanish  milled 
dollar,  worth  4s.  6d.  sterling;  at  £'/  in  notes,  a  ratio  of  about  thirt}-  of 
paper  for  one  of  specie.  Although  some  pretense  at  redemption  was 
made.  Rhode  Island  managed  her  financial  affairs  wildly  and  recklessly 
to  the  end  of  the  colonial  period.  Her  policy  throughout  was  so  far  the 
reverse  of  business  like,  honest  or  honorable  that  her  relations  with  her 
sister  colonies  were  least  amicable  of  the  thirteen,  and  her  bills  of  credit 
were  so  debased  as  to  be  little  better  than  a  pest  to  herself  and  her 
neighbors. 

Pennsylvania,  as  we  hax^e  said,  suffered  least  of  all  the  colonies  which 
adopted  the  loan-bank  system.  In  the  rare  instances  in  which  this 
colony  issued  bills  of  credit  to  meet  demands  on  the  treasur}-,  the  sums 
were  insignificant  and  the  bills  so  emitted  were  promptly  redeemed.  The 
loan  banks  were  also  small  in  proportion  to  the  wealth  and  population  ot 
the  proxince  and  were  strictly  managed.  The  first  issue  was  made  in 
1722,  of  iJ"i  5,000,  to  be  loaned  on  the  security  of  real  estate  mortgages 
or  upon  gold  or  siher  plate  deposited  in  the  loan  office.  The  loan  was 
to  run  for  eight  years  at  five  per  cent,  the  interest  and  one-eighth  the 
principal  to  be  paid  annually.  Loan  offices  were  established  in  each 
county.  The  smallest  loan  made  was  ^lo  los.  and  the  largest  ;{,  100, 
unless  bills  la}'  in  the  office  six  months  without  borrowers,  in  which  case 
/,2oo  might  be  lent  one  person.  The  bills  were  a  legal  tender  and  the 
penalty  for  refusing  to  receive  them  was  confiscation  of  the  debt  or  forfeit- 
ure of  the  commodity.  A  proportionate  penalty  was  imposed  on  anyone 
who  ba''gained  or  sold  any  article  for  a  less  sum  if  paid  in  specie  than  for 
paper.  In  1723  £'30,000  more  in  bills  were  issued  to  be  lent  upon  the 
same  terms.  In  1730,  when  the  time  arrived  for  the  redemption  of  these 
issues,  an  Act  was  passed  increasing  the  amount  to  £"75,000,  and  pro- 
viding for  reissues  sufficient  to  keep  that  sum  in  constant  circulation. 
This  was  consented  to  by  the  l^nglish  proprietaries  only  on  condition  that 
they  should  receive  an  ecjuivalent  for  any  loss  on  their  ([uit  rents  b)'  the 
depreciation  of  this  paper,  aiul  that  their  Governors  should  be  strictly  in- 
structed to  consent  to  no  further  issue  on  any  terms.  Benjamin  Franklin 
wrote  an  essay,  published  in  1729,  advocating  this  measure,  in  which, 
from  a  just  and  clear  view  of  the  utility  and  effects  of  banks  of  deposit, 
he  deduces  an  argument  in  fa\or  of  the  radicall}'  dissimilar  loan  bank 
then  in  vogue;  overlooking  the  fundamental  truth  that  the  value  of  a 
paper  promise  to  pa\'  depends  fully  as  much  on  the  certainty  and  reason- 
able nearness  ot  the  time  at  which  it  is  to  be  paid,  as  upon  the  sum 
named  or  the  credit  of  the  promisor.  The  quantity  of  paper  issued  being 
thus  rigoroush'  limited,  the   Penns\'l\ania  bills  kept  their  value  so  well 


48 

that  they  were  commonly  used  as  bills  of  cxchany,e  between  the  other 
colonies.  This  prudent  reserve,  imitated  in  Maryland  and  enforced  by 
royal  instructions  in  New  Jersey  and  New  York,  saved  the  paper  cur- 
rency of  the  middle  colonies  from  that  excessive  depreciation  by  which 
New  England  and  the  Carolinas  was  impoverished  and  disgraced.  But 
the  average  di.scount  on  the  bills  of  even  these  provinces  was  from  twenty 
to  thirty-three  per  cent.  There  was  not  a  single  colony  in  which  paper 
money  stood  at  par. 

Virginia  appears  to   have   issued   no   loan  bank,  nor  is   there  an)^ 
record  of  the  use  of  bills  of  credit  until  1755, and  then  for  a  comparatively 

moderate  sum  only. 
Maryland's  first  and 
only  loan  bank  was 
issued  in  1733.  Con- 
necticut first  author- 
ized the  issue  of  pa- 
per to  be  loaned  in 
the  same  year,  and  in 
175  I  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  Massachu- 
setts in  retiring  its 
paper.  New  York 
suffered  but  little  from 
the  loan  bank  craze, 
but  its  government 
made  repeated  and 
scandalous  issues  of 
bills  of  credit  for  the 
payment  of  trumped- 
up  and  fictitious  claims 
upon  the  treasury. 
New  Jersey,  in  1721, 
created  a  loan  bank  ot 
^40.000  to  be  lent 
out  in  small  sums. 
Another  was  author- 
ized for  ^ 20,000,  in 
1728.  These,  with  a 
few  emissions  of  bills 
of  credit  to  meet  tem- 
porary  deficiencies, 
and  for  the  eciuipment 
of  troops  to  take  part  in  the  wars  with  the  French  in  Canada,  seemed  to 
have  been  the  limit  of  the  issues  of  paper  in  this  province,  and  the  com- 
mon rate  of  (l(.j)reciation  was  about  two  of  bills  for  one  of  specie. 


II.   H     MDIKAT. 
President    First    Nalion.il    HanU,    DeiivL-r,  Colo 


ciiArri'.k  \'i. 

illl':     KKVOI.LTIoNAKN'     I'lCKIOO. 


lianking,  in  an\-  sense-  in  which  the  wortl  is  now  understood,  had  its 
birth  in  America  during  the   rc\olulionar\-  peiiod   lasting  from    1775   to 


49 

the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  in  1788.  Yet  the  financial  pol- 
icy of  the  Confederation,  while  directed  by  the  Continental  Congress,  as 
well  as  that  of  nearly  every  one  of  the  thirteen  states  during  the  same 
time,  was  so  far  a  repetition  of  the  worst  sins  of  the  colonial  i)eriod  as  to 
make  legitimate  private  banking  impossible  for  the  greater  part  of  this 
term  and  difficult  or  unprofitable  for  the  remainder.  Until  the  constitu- 
tional prohibition  of  bills  of  credit  and  of  legal-tender  paper  came  into 
force  there  was  no  room  for  the  modern  bank. 

It  was  estimated  that  just  before  the  war  of  the  revolution  broke  out, 
the  whole  "circulating  cash"  of  the  thirteen  colonies  was  equal  in  value 

to  about  $  1 2,000,000, 


or  perhaps  not  more 
than  S 1 0,000,000,  in 
hard  money,  and  that 
the  proportion  of  pa- 
per included  in  this 
total  was  from  one- 
half  to  three-fifths  of 
the  whole.  So  the 
total  of  specie  may 
have  been  anywhere 
from  54,000,000  to 
$6,000,000.  Great  as 
was  the  nominal  ex- 
pense of  that  war  it  is 
altogether  probable 
that  this  sum  in  specie, 
together  w  i  t  h  what 
would  have  come 
from  abroad,  or  even 
with  what  actually 
did  flow  in  from  French 
and  Dutch  loans  and 
from  sums  paid  out  in 
the  country  for  the 
support  of  the  British 
and  French  armies, 
would  have  been  am- 
l)le  for  every  occasion. 
The  people  of  the 
thirteen  colonies  were 
then,  in  proportion  to 
their  numbers  more  opulent  than  those  of  France,  and,  had  they  possessed 
the  inclination  and  the  means  of  organizing  their  resources,  easily  could 
ha\'e  paid  the  price  of  their  independence  without  resorting  to  a  disastrous 
and  demoralizing  issue  of  paper. 

The  most  pressing  necessity  which  confronted  the  second  Continental 
Congress  when  it  convened  May  10,  1775,  was  that  of  pro\'iding  mone\' 
to  carry  on  the  war,  which,  with  the  battle  of  Lexington,  fought  the 
month  before,  was  now  flagrant.  Having  no  authority  to  levy  taxes  di- 
rectly, and  unwilling  to  await  the  slow  process  of  a  call  upon  the  states 


JOSHUA  S.    RAVNOLDS. 

President  First  National  Bank,  El  Paso. 

President  First  National  Bank,  Albuquerque,  New  Mexico. 


50 

for  money,  on  June  23,  in  conformity  with  the  suggestion  of  the  New 
York  Provincial  Congress,  it  was  voted  to  issue  S2,ooo,oooin  continental 
bills  of  credit.  The  new  paper  did  not  get  into  circulation  until  the  next 
August.  Other  issues  followed  rapidly.  For  about  one  year,  and  until 
the  paper  in  circulation  exceeded  $9,000,000,  the  bills  were  freely  re- 
ceived at  their  nominal  value,  no  distinction  being  made  in  ordinary- 
transactions  between  continental  money  and  gold.  The  liability  for  the 
bills  was  distributed  among  the  colonies,  subject  to  future  revision  in  the 
ratio  of  the  supposed  "number  of  their  inhabitants,  of  all  ages,  including 
negroes  and  mulattoes;"  and  were  to  be  redeemed  in  four  annual  install- 
ments, to  commence  at  the  end  of  four  years.  With  successive  issues 
the  time  for  the  commencement  of  redemption  was  extended,  first  to  eight 
years  and  finally  to  eighteen  years  for  the  latest  issues.  In  February, 
1776,  the  first  issue  of  continental  notes  of  less  denomination  than  one 
dollar  was  authorized.  In  1777,  when  continental  bills  had  sunk  to  one- 
half  their  nominal  x'.ilue.  Congress  denounced  every  person  who  would 
not  receive  them  at  par  as  a  public  enemy,  liable  to  forfeit  whatever  he 
offered  for  sale  ;  and  requested  the  States  to  declare  the  notes  a  lawful 
tender.  Massachusetts  had  already  made  them  legal  tender  and  this  ex- 
ample was  at  once  followed  throughout  the  Union.  The  several  States 
were  at  the  s.mie  time  invited  to  cancel  their  respective  quotas  of  conti- 
nental bills.  They  all  had  irredeemable  currencies  of  their  own,  and,  as 
they  possessed  nearly  all  the  real  powers  of  government,  under  the  Con- 
federation, their  bills  were  less  insecure  than  the  continental  currenc}-. 
Congress,  therefore,  urgentl}'  needed  the  exclusi\e  right  to  issue  paper 
mone)-,  if  by  bills  of  credit  the  war  was  to  be  prosecuted,  and  to  that  end 
recommended  the  States  to  call  in  their  bills  and  to  issue  no  more.  This 
request  was  often  rene^ved  but  never  heeded;  so  the  notes  of  each  one  of 
the  thirteen  states  continued  to  compete  for  circulation  with  those  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  The  value  of  the  continental  currenc}' was  further 
impaired  in  1776  by  the  ignoble  stratagem  of  the  British  Government, 
under  whose  authority  Lord  Dunmore  and  others  put  into  circulation  in 
Virginia  and  other  States  a  large  number  of  counterfeit  bills  manufactured 
for  that  purpose  in  England.  In  1779  this  counterfeit  money  had  become 
so  largely  circulated  b)' the  agents  making  purchases  for  the  British  army, 
who  were  regularly  supplied  with  it,  that  Congress  was  compelled  to  re- 
call, for  other  paper,  two  entire  emissions  of  $5,000,000  each.  The  ex- 
cessive issue  was,  however,  the  principal  and  all-sufficient  occasion  of  its 
depreciation.  As  we  have  seen  about  $9,000,000  of  it  circulated  at  par 
with  gold.  No  very  marked  sign  of  depreciation  appeared  until  S20,000,- 
000  had  been  issued,  or  until  about  January,  1777.  The  ratio  of  depreci- 
ation was  then  one  and  one-fourth  of  paper  for  one  of  specie.  Before  the 
end  of  that  year  it  became  four  for  one.  At  the  end  of  1778  it  reached 
ten  for  one.  When,  in  September,  1779,  the  ratio  had  fallen  to  twent}' 
for  one,  Congress  determined  that  the  total  issue  should  not  exceed 
$200,000,000,  renewed  the  declaration  that  this  currency  should  be  re- 
deemed in  full,  and  went  into  a  lengthy  argument  to  prove  that  the 
States  had  the  abilit)'  to  do  so.  but  did  not  stick  to  its  resolution  to  re- 
strict the  issue.  In  March,  17.S0,  these  issues  had  so  depreciated  that 
their  value  as  compared  with  specie  was  as  forty  to  one.  Congress  now 
recjuired  the  wliole  to  be   brought  in  for   redcnijition   at  its  market  value 


51 

in  coin,  and  authorized  the  emission  of  new  notes  bearing  interest  at  five 
per  cent,  and  payable  in  six  years  from  date  in  silver  and  gold.  These 
were  to  be  exchanged  in  proportion  of  one  dollar  of  the  new  for  twenty 
of  the  old.  During  1780  the  bills  sank  to  one  hundred  for  one.  By 
May  31,  1 78 1,  the\'  had  flillen  to  five  hundred  for  one,  or  two-tenthts  of 
a  cent  on  the  dollar,  after  which  they  ceased  to  circulate  as  money.  They 
continued  to  be  bought  on  speculation  at  ratios  varying  from  four  hundred 
for  one  to  one  thousand  for  one  of  specie.  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island 
and  New  Hampshire  redeemed  their  quotas  of  continental  currency  b)- 
receiving  it  for  taxes  at  the  rate  of  forty  for  one.  Connecticut,  Delaware, 
the  Carolinas  and  Georgia  took  up  none.  The  other  states  redeemed 
parts  of  the  quotas  assigned  to  them  at  the  same  rate  as  Massachusetts. 
The  estimates  of  the  total  issues  of  continental  currency  vary  astonishingly, 
as  authorities  of  seemingly  equal  credit  reach  amounts  as  widely  apart  as 
3200,000,000  and  $350,000,000.  The  last  figure  seems  to  be  nearest  the 
truth,  although  it  is  probable  that  no  more  than  ;^200,Ooo,ooo  of  it  was 
in  circulation  at  any  one  time. 

Besides  the  continental  paper  issued  by  Congress,  all  of  the  States 
put  out  bills  of  their  own.  In  some  States,  as  Massachusetts  and  Penn- 
sylvannia,  these  bills  were  ultimatel)^  called  in  and  funded  at  their  nominal 
value.  In  others,  especially  at  the  South,  they  were  partially  redeemed 
b\'  the  issue  of  land  warrants.  The  remainder  shared  the  fate  of  the  con- 
tinental currency,  being  either  repudiated  outright  or  funded  at  an  immense 
depreciation.  No  State  made  such  profuse  issues  as  Virginia,  and  such 
of  her  bills  as  were  not  paid  in  for  land  »varrants — and  enough  of  these 
bills  could  be  bought  for  five  dollars  in  specie  to  purchase  a  warrant  for 
seven  hundred  acres  of  land — were  finally  funded  at  the  rate  of  one 
thousand  for  one.  The  total  issue  of  these  State  bills  of  credit  from  1774 
to  1783  was  upward  of  ;^2 10,000,000.  The  benefits  which  the  Continental 
and  State  governments  derived  from  all  these  issues  were  in  no  way 
commLMisurate  with  the  burdens  which  they  entailed  upon  the  people. 
According  to  the  estimate  of  Mr.  Woodbury,  secretary  of  the  treasury 
from  1834  to  1 84 1,  the  depreciation  and  subsequent  repudiation  of  the 
continental  currency  entailed  upon  the  country  an  aggregate  loss  of 
$196,000,000,  mo.st  of  which  fell  upon  the  friends  of  the  revolutionar)- 
cause,  as  the  Tories  either  declined  to  receive  that  paper  or  parted  with 
it  as  soon  as  possible.  Pelatiah  Webster,  writing  in  1780,  declared  that 
the  country  suffered  more  from  this  depreciated  currncy  than  from  ever)- 
other  cause  of  calamity;  that  it  killed  more  men,  did  more  to  corrupt  our 
choisest  interest*^,  and  worked  greater  inju.stice  than  all  the  armies  and 
artifices  of  our  enemies. 

"Shay's  Rebellion"  which  broke  out  in  New  England  in  1785  and 
1786  was  an  in-;urection  of  debtors  who  were  suffering  from  the  collapse 
of  the  currency  and  return  to  .specie  values.  They  were  clamorous  for 
paper  money.  Although  no  concessions  were  made  to  the  rioters  in  that 
particular,  Massachusetts  did  pass  a  law  dela}ing  the  collection  of  debts. 
In  Rhode  Island  this  movement  was  not  riotus,  but  took  the  form  of  a 
new  political  party.  The  payer-money  party  carried  the  elections  in  1786, 
and  then  began  a  new  period  of  this  mania.  Bills  amounting  to  ^^loo,- 
000  (there  was  )et  no  federal  monetary  system  or  coinage)  were  issued, 
by  the  vote  of  the  rural  towns  against  the  cities,  and  loaned  on  mortgage 


52 

of  land  for  fourteen  \ears.  They  were  made  a  legal  tender  and  depre- 
ciated at  once.  Merchants  refused  to  receive  them  and  closed  their  shops. 
The  farmer  retaliated  by  refusing  to  bring  food  into  the  cities,  and  a 
ridiculous  struggle  followed  which  brought  business  to  a  stand-still.  The 
paper-monc>-  party  met  and  petitioned  the  authorities  to  enforce  the  penal 
laws  against  tho.se  refusing  to  receive  the  bills.  By  these  laws  cases  in- 
volving a  legal  tender  took  precedence  of  all  others  and  must  be  tried 
within  three  days  after  complaint  made,  without  a  jury,  and  without  a 
right  of  appeal.  The  fine  for  a  fir.st  offence  was  from  £6  to  ^30,  and 
greater  for  a  .second.      In  a  case  brought  against  a  butcher  for  refusing 

bank  paper,  five  judges 
agreed  the  act  was  un- 
constitutional. A  special 
session  of  the  Assembly 
was  called  and  the  judges 
were  summoned  to  assign 
the  reasons  and  grounds 
of  their  decision,  and  sub- 
sequentl)-,  four  of  them 
were  removed.  A  law 
was  proposed  which  dis- 
franchised any  one  who 
refused  to  receive  the 
paper  on  an  equality  with 
specie,  but  this  failed  to 
receive  the  sanction  of  the 
towns.  Land  rents  were 
paid  in  produce.  The 
State  debt,  incurred  dur- 
ing the  revolution,  was 
paidoffin  the  depreciated 
currenc}-.  The  question 
of  the  ratification  of  the 
new  federal  constitution 
c<Miiing  up  at  tiiis  time, 
the  papcr-nmnc}'  part)' 
was  strong  eni)ug]i  to 
procure  its  rejection  and 
keej)  Rlunle  Island  out 
of  the  Union  for  three 
years.  When,  in  17S7, 
numerous  suits  were  brought  in  the  courts  for  the  redemption  of 
estates  from  mortg.iges,  "the  suitors  came  prepared  with  paper  monc}-  in 
handkerchiefs  and  pillow  cases  to  redeem  their  lantls."  The  mone\-  con- 
tinued to  dcprtciale  until  1  7.S9,  when  the  legal  tender  laws  were  suspended 
and  the  depreciation  '[^^^:(\  h\  law  at  eighteen  for  one.  The  people  of 
Rhode  Island  were,  at  that  time,  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  belief  that 
money  is  something  whicli  derives  its  valve  from  the  authority  of  go\ern- 
ment.  They  gave  to  fiat  j)aper  moi^ey  all  the  coutenance  and  support 
which  pnblic  opinion,  public  favor  and  the  most  stringent  laws  in  its  aid 
could  afford.       TIk'  result  was  wiile-spread  peciuiiar\- disaster  and  financial 


Jl  I  I'KRSON     K.A\  iNOl.DS. 
President  of  I'irst  Naiioii.il  Bank,  Las  Vegas.  New  .Mexico 


53 

and  moral  disgrace  to  the  people,  while  the  State  came  dangcrousl)-  near 
to  extinction  through  partition  and  annexation  to  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut. 

In  May,  1780,  Robert  Morris,  George  Clymer  and  other  leading 
citizens  of  Philadelphir  associated  themsehes  under  the  name  of  the  Bank 
of  Pennsyhania,  and  having  subscribed  a  small  capital  in  hard  money, 
commenced  the  issue,  as  a  joint-stock  bank,  of  promissorj-  notes,  which 
were  employed  without  profit  to  themselves  in  the  purchase  of  supplies 
for  the  arm)'.  Congress  deposited  with  the  bank  a  considerable  sum  in 
bills  of  exchange  drawn  upon  John  Jay,  then  negotiating  a  loan  in  Spain, 

as  a  support  to  their 
credit  and  indemnity  in 
case  of  loss.  This  bank 
was  of  very  considerable 
service  in  procuring  and 
forwarding  supplies.  It 
continued  in  existence 
until  after  the  end  of  the 
war,  finally  closing  its 
affairs  towards  the  end  of 
the  year  1784. 

On  May  17,  1781.  a 
plan  for  a  national  bank 
was  submitted  to  Con- 
gress by  Robert  Morris, 
the  principal  provisions 
ol  which  were  as  follows: 
The  capital  was  to  be 
$400,000  in  shares  of 
S400  each  ;  each  share  to 
have  one  vote  for  direc- 
tors; the  directors  to  be 
twelve  in  number,  chosen 
from  the  stockholders, 
who  at  their  first  meeting 
were  to  choose  a  presi- 
dent from  themselves ; 
the  directors  to  meet 
quarterly;  the  board  to 
be  empowered  from  time 
to  time  to  open  new  sub- 
scriptions for  the  increase 
of  the  capital  stock;  regular  statements  of  its  condition  to  be  made  to  the 
continental  superintendent  of  finance,  and  it  to  be  at  all  times  subject  to 
his  examination;  the  notes  of  the  bank  to  be  j)ayable  on  demand  over  its 
counter  and  to  be  made  by  law  receivable  for  taxes  and  duties  in  every 
State,  and  from  the  several  States  by  the  treasury  of  the  United  States. 
On  May  26  Congress  adopted  a  resolution  approving  this  plan,  promising 
to  promote  and  support  the  same  by  such  ways  and  means,  from  time  to 
time,  as  should  appear  necessary  for  the  institution  and  consistent  with 
the  public  good,  and  providing  "that  the  subscribers  to  said  bank  shall 


JOHN    W.   ZOLLARS. 

President  Sierra  County  Bank,  Hillsborough,  New  Mexico. 

Vice-President   First  National  Bank,  Las  Vegas,  New  Mexico. 


54 

be  incorporated  agreeabh' to  the  principles  and  terms  of  the  plan,  under 
the  name  of  'The  President,  Directors  and  Company  of  the  Bank  of  North 
America,'  so  soon  as  the  subscription  shall  be  filled,  the  directors  and 
president  chosen,  and  application  for  that  purpose  made  to  Congress  by 
the  president  and  directors  elected."  On  December  31,  following.  Con- 
gress passed  "an  ordinance  to  incorporate  the  subscribers  to  the  Bank  of 
North  America."  The  first  president  was  Thomas  Willing.  The  bank- 
opened  for  business  at  Philadelphia  on  January  7,  1782.  Its  success  was 
immediate  and  complete.  Its  issues  which  at  first  circulated  in  the  east- 
ern States  only,  at  a  discount  of  ten  to  fifteen  per  cent,  speedily  rose  to 
par  and  were  sustained  at  that  point  without  further  difficulty.  It  was  of 
great  and  timely  service  to  both  the  F"ederal  and  State  Governments.  Of 
its  original  capital  of  §400,000  which  it  might  increase  to  $10,000,000, 
the  P'ederal  Government  subscribed  $254,000.  In  April,  1782,  Penn- 
syhania  granted  its  first  State  charter,  an  example  followed  by  several 
other  States.  In  1783  and  1784  it  declared  dividends  averaging  fourteen 
per  cent.  In  this  last  year  the  directors  were  warmly  urged  to  increase 
the  capital  stock  in  order  to  allow  new  subscribers  to  share  in  the  busi- 
ness, and  on  their  refusal  an  application  was  made  to  the  Legislature  ot 
that  State  to  charter  a  rival  concern  to  be  called  the  Bank  of  Pennsyl- 
\'ania.  The  Assembly  was  "plagued  with  long  arguments  on  both  sides" 
and  endless  evils  were  prophesied  in  case  two  banks  attempted  to  do  busi- 
ness in  opposition  to  each  other.  But  "all  at  once  the  thing  was  hushed 
up  and  accommodated."  The  directors  consented  to  increase  the  capital 
to  $2,000,000  and  to  allow  the  projectors  of  the  new  enterprise  to  be- 
come stockholders  in  the  old.  In  1785  a  new  party  arose  in  Pennsyl- 
vania which  demanded  the  issue  of  more  paper  money  by  the  State  on  the 
plan  of  the  colonial  land-loan  schemes.  The  credit  of  that  State  being 
manifestly  too  bad  to  float  such  a  currency,  it  was  demanded  of  the  bank 
that  it  should  give  its  credit  to  the  proposed  issue.  As  the  directors 
were  both  unable  and  unwilling  to  do  this,  and  as  it  had  prudentl}'  limited 
its  own  issues  of  notes,  the  bank  was  regarded  as  the  opponent  of  the 
paper-money  scheme,  the  friends  of  which  were  powerful  enough  to  ob- 
tain by  way  of  revenge,  a  repeal  ol  its  Penns)-l\ania  charter  in  Septem- 
ber, 1785.  Although  this  action  did  in  some  measure  shake  the  confi- 
dence of  the  ])ublic  in  the  bank,  the  stock  of  which  fell  to  a  discount  of 
five  per  cent,  it  continued  to  do  business  under  its  continental  charter  and 
charters  granted  it  by  other  States.  It  was  even  j^roposed  to  remo\e  the 
bank  to  Wilmington  or  to  New  Castle,  in  Delaware,  by  which  State  one 
of  its  charters  was  granted.  In  1787,  after  several  efforts  to  procure 
from  Pennsylvania  a  renewal  of  its  charter,  the  Legislature  of  that  State 
granted  a  new  one,  though  cjuilc  unlike'  the  first.  In  1789,  when  the 
present  I^Y-deral  (iovernnient  went  into  operation,  its  charter  from  the 
congress  of  the  confederation  w, is  held  to  have  lapsed,  and,  though  the 
bank  was  invited  to  take  a  national  charter,  it  preferretl  to  remain  a  State 
institution  under  the  laws  of  Pennsylvania.  Passing  through  many  vicis- 
situdes, it  was  rechartered  from  time  to  time  by  that  State  until,  on  March 
3,  1864,  it  was  converted  into  a  national  bank.  It  is  still  doing  business 
under  the  nation. il  banking  system,  with  a  capital  of  S  i  ,000,000  and  a 
surplus  in  excess  of  its  capital. 

The  success  of  the  Bank  of  North  .America  induced  the  organization 


55 

of  the  Bank  of  Massachusetts,  in  Boston.  This  bank  received  its  charter 
from  the  State  of  Massachusetts  on  February./,  17*^4.  Its  original  cap- 
ital was  $300,000,  and  the  charter  "allowed  three  dollars  ot  currency  for 
one  dollar  of  metallic  deposit."  The  restrictions  placed  upon  its  officers 
did  not  permit  the  lending  of  more  than  "S3,000  to  any  individual  at  one 
time,  and  but  $5,000  in  the  aggregate  to  any  one  borrower."  Loans 
could  be  granted  for  no  more  than  sixty  days  upon  the  pledge  of  mer- 
chandise, bullion,  or  other  securities  as  collateral,  and  for  thirty  days  only 
on  i^ersonal  obligations  with  two  sufficient  sureties,  "without  the  privilege 
of  renewal  on  any  terms."  It  continued  as  a  State  bank  until  1864,  when 
it  reorganized  under  the  national  banking  law,  and  is  now  doing  business 
as  the  Massachusetts  National  Bank  of  Boston,  with  a  capital  of  $800,000. 

The  mt  rchants  of  New  York  were  but  a  few  days  behind  those  of 
Boston  in  following  the  lead  of  their  competitors  in  Philadelphia.  The 
success  of  the  Bank  of  North  .America  stirred  up  the  speculative  element 
in  New  York,  and,  on  February  12,  1784,  a  proposal  was  advertised  in 
the  Packet  new.spaper  for  the  establishment  of  an  institution  to  be  called 
the  Bank  of  the  State  of  New  York,  with  a  capital  of  $750,000,  in  shares 
of  $1,000  each.  The  management  was  to  be  in  the  hands  of  a  governor 
and  six  directors,  who  were  to  serve  without  pay  until  the  first  dividend 
was  declared.  Two  of  the  directors  and  the  governor  were  to  attend 
constantly  at  the  bank,  and  no  money  was  to  be  paid  out  without  their 
consent.  The  subscribers  were  to  pay  one-third  their  subscriptions  in 
"cash,"  and  for  the  other  two-thirds  "landed  security"  was  to  be  given  by 
mortgage  or  deed  of  trust.  No  lands  outside  New  York  and  New  Jersey 
were  to  be  accepted,  and  all  lands  were  to  be  appraised  at  not  more  than 
two-thirds  their  value.  The  directors  could  borrow  "to  the  extent  of 
one-third  of  the  value  of  the  lands"  in  case  they  found  it  necessary  to  in- 
crease the  cash  resources  of  the  bank,  but  no  further.  The  folly  and 
danger  of  this  scheme,  which  was  nothing  but  the  old  land  bank  with 
little  more  than  a  semblance  of  disguise,  was  quickly  perceived;  but  it 
served  to  hasten  the  action  of  those  who  desired  a  reall\'  sound  banking 
institution  in  that  city. 

After  several  meetings  had  been  held,  a  number  of  leading  business 
men,  on  February  26,  1784,  agreed  upon  a  plan  for  creating  a  bank,  to 
be  called  the  Bank  of  New  York,  under  which  an  organization  was 
speedily  effected.  This  provided  for  a  capital  stock  of  $500,000  in  silver 
or  gold,  10  be  divided  into  one  thousand  shares  of  $500  each;  that  as 
soon  as  five  hundred  shares  should  be  subscribed  a  meeting  of  the  .sub- 
scribers should  be  held  to  elect  a  president  and  twelve  directors;  that  at 
all  meetings  of  subscribers  or  share-holders  every  subscriber  or  .stock- 
holder should  have  one  vote  for  each  share  of  stock  held  b)'  him  to  the 
number  of  four;  the  holder  of  .six  sha-'cs  to  have  five  votes,  for  eight 
shares  six  votes,  and  for  ten  .shares  seven  votes  ;  but  no  stockholder 
should  have  more  than  seven  votes,  be  the  number  of  his  shares  ever  so 
great.  This  last  provision  was  afterward  amended  to  allow  one  vote  for 
every  five  shares  in  excess  often.  A  dividend  was  to  be  made  at  the 
end  of  the  first  year,  and  semi-annually  thereafter.  To  encourage  trade, 
the  proprietors  of  the  bank  fiixed  the  rate  of  discount  at  six  per  cent. 
Sufficient  stock  having  been  subscribed,  officers  were  elected  March  15, 
1784.     Alexander  Hamilton  was  among  those  chosen  on  the  first  board 


56 


of  directors;  and  the  "constitution"  under  which  it  commenced  operations 
was  written  by  him.  As  none  of  the  newly-selected  ofificiers,  nor  any 
other  trustworthy  person  in  New  York,  was  familiar  with  the  methods  of 
banking  busines>^.  the  cashier,  Mr,  Seaton,  was  dispatched  to  Philadelphia 
with  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Hamilton,  to  procure  the  desired  in- 
formation from  the  Bank  of  North  America  and  to  purchase  such  material 
as  could  not  be  had  in  New  York.  On  May  22  "the  president  and 
directors  qualified  before  His  Worship  the  Mayor  as  required  by  the 
the  constitution"  of  the  bank.  On  June  7,  the  subscriptions  having  been 
paid  in,  and  some  deposits  having  been  made,  notice  was  given  that  the 

bank  would  formally 
commence  business 
on  Wednesday,  June 
9,  1784;  and  that 
applications  for  dis- 
counts would  be  re- 
ceived on  the  succeed- 
ing Wednesday.  The 
following  rules,  to  be 
observed  in  transact- 
ing business  with  the 
bank,  were  also  pub- 
lished. 

"The  bank  will  be 
open  e\er}-  da}'  in  the 
year  except  Sundays, 
Christmas-day,  New- 
\'ear's-day,  Good  Fri- 
day, the  Fourth  of 
Jul)',  and  general  holi- 
days appointed  by 
legal  authority. 

"The  hours  of  busi- 
ness \\\\\  be  from  ten 
to  one  o'clock  in  the 
forenoon,  and  from 
three  to  fi\e  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon. 

"Discounts  will  be 
done  on  Thursda}'  in 
every  week,  and  bills 
and  notes  bi  ought  for 
discount  must  be  left  at  the  bank  on  Wednesday  morning,  under  a  seal 
cover,  directed  to  William  Seaton,  Cashier.  The  rate  of  discount  is  at 
present  fixed  at  si.x  per  cent  per  annum  ;  but  no  discounts  will  be  made 
for  longer  than  thirty  da)'s,  nor  will  any  note  or  bill  be  discounted  to  pay 
a  former  one.  Payments  must  b(.'  made  in  bank  notes  or  specie.  Three 
days  of  grace  being  allowed  ujx)!!  all  bills,  the  disc(nuit  will  be  taken  for 
the  same. 

"Money  lodged  at  the  bank   may  be  redrawn  at  pleasure,  free  of 
expense,  but  no  draft  will  be  paid  beyond  the  balance  of  the  account. 


I..  11.  HERSHFIKLD. 
I'residenl  of  Mcrch.ints  National  Bank,  Helena,  Montana, 


57 

"Bills  or  notes  left  witli  the  bank  will  be  presented  for  acceptance, 
and  the  money  collected  free  of  expense;  in  case  of  non-payment  and 
protest,  the  charge  of  protest  must  be  borne  by  the  party  lodging  the  bill. 

"  Payments  made  at  the  bank  .nust  be  examined  at  the  time,  as  no 
deficiency  suggested  afterward  will  be  admitted. 

"  Gold  coin  is  received  and  paid  at  the  Bank  of  New  York  at  the 
followingf  rates: 


A  Johannes      .         -         .         . 

Weigh'g 

1 8  dwt. 

$i6.oo 

A  half  Johannes   - 

" 

9 

8.00 

A  Spanish  doubloon 

" 

I? 

15  .00 

A  double  Spanish  Pistole 

" 

8 

12  gr. 

7-48 

A  Spanish  Pistole 

4 

6   " 

372 

A  British  Guinea 

'< 

5 

6   " 

4.64 

A  British  half  Guinea 

" 

2 

15   " 

2.32 

A  French  Guinea 

" 

5 

4  " 

452 

A  Moidore        -         .         . 

" 

6 

i8  " 

6.00 

A  Caroline 

" 

6 

8  " 

4.72 

A  Chequin 

" 

2 

4  " 

1.78 

"An  allowance  is  made  on  all  gold  exceeding  the  abov^e  standard  at 
the  rate  of  three  pence  per  grain;  on  all  gold  short  of  the  above  weight 

four  pence  per   grain 
is  deducted. 

"  By   Order   of  the 
Board  of  Directors. 
"Ale.\.  McDougall, 
Pres't." 

Both  the  Johannes 
and  the  Moidore  were 
gold  coins  of  Portugal; 
the  Johannes  being  so 
called  from  the  figure 
of  King  John  which 
it  bore.  The  Caroline 
was  a  German  coin, 
and  the  Pistole  was  ot 
the  same  value  as  the 
Louis  d '  o  r .  The 
Chequin,  also  written 
zeechin,  zechin,  and 
sequin,  was  a  gold 
coin  deriving  its  name 
from  La  Zeche,  that 
quarter  in  the  city  of 
Venice  where  the  mint 
was  situated.  The  clip- 
ping and  the  sweating 
of  the  gold  coin  in  cir- 
lation  had  long  been 
practiced  in  the  colo- 

GEORGE   F.   COPE.  •  t      ,_  . ,       t^t 

nies.  In  1 770  the  New 

CJashier  First  National  Kank,  Helena,  Montana.  Y  O  r  k     Chamber    O  f 


5S 

Coniniercc  sti<^mati/.cd  it  as  "an  evil  aiul  scandalous  practice,"  and 
passed  a  resolution  to  take  no  light  coin  except  at  a  discount  of 
four  pence  for  each  grain  it  fell  short  of  just  weight.  The  bank  ex- 
perienced much  trouble  from  this  source.  The  practice  was  to 
weigh  it  in  quantities  on  receiving  and  paying  out  gold,  a  course  attended 
with  many  difficulties  where  the  variety  of  coins  were  so  numerous,  but 
for  which,  in  the  absence  of  a  national  coinage,  it  was  not  easy  to  find  a 
substitute.  The  paper  currency  of  Penn.sylvania  and  New  Jersey,  which 
circulated  largel}-  in  New  York,  was  a  cause  of  endless  trouble  and 
vexation  to  the  bank  and  to  its  customers. 

Aj^plication  had  been  made  to  the  Legislature  of  New  York  for  a 
charter  incorporating  the  bank  before  it  began  bu>iness;  but  this  was 
delayed  and  operations  were  begun  without  it.  As  in  Pennsylvania,  a 
paper-money  party  existed  in  New  York  which  persistently  opposed  the 
efforts  of  the  bank  to  obtain  a  charter.  The  direst  evils  were  predicted 
from  the  establishment  of  the  bank,  and  it  was  maintained  that  the  only 
remedy  for  existing  and  threatened  evils  was  to  be  found  in  an  emission 
of  legal-tender  paper  by  the  State.  The  directors  were  popularly  charged 
with  working  in  the  interest  of  British  capitalists  and  traders,  and  with 
refusing  discounts  a  few  days  before  the  sailing  of  the  European  packet 
that  the)-,  personally,  might  profit  by  the  distress  thus  occasioned.  The 
bank,  it  was  contended,  had  destroyed  private  credit  as  well  as  that 
confidence,  forbearance  and  compassion  formerly  shown  by  creditors  to 
their  debtors.  The  enforcing  the  payment  of  notes  at  maturity  by  lodging 
them  at  the  bank  was  especially  disliked. 

A  strong  pressure  was  now  brought  upon  the  Legislature  in  favor 
of  an  emission  by  the  State  of  paper  money,  to  be  made  a  legal  tender. 
The  merchants  of  New  York,  as  a  body,  opposed  the  scheme,  and  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  forwarded  a  memorial  remonstrating  against  the 
passage  of  any  bill  to  that  effect,  and  setting  forth  the  evils  which  would 
result  from  such  an  issue.  Rut  outside  the  city  there  was  a  general 
belief  that  financial  relief  and  permanent  prosperity  would  only  come 
with  an  abundance  of  paper  money.  The  experience  of  the  past  had  not 
deterred  people  from  this  conviction,  and  several  of  the  States  had  recently 
issued  bills  of  credit.  The  Legislature  passed  a  bill  in  1786,  authorizing 
the  emission  of  ^200,000,  to  be  loaned  out  at  five  per  cent,  "for  the 
purpose  of  increasing  the  currency,"  and  to  be  a  legal  tender  of  all  dues, 
j)ublic  and  j^rivate.  Thus  was  the  last  issue  of  bills  of  credit  by  New  York. 
In  June,  i/S/,  the  paper  money  issued  by  the  State  having  then  obtained 
a  considerable  circulation  and  being  largely  dejjreciated,  the  Bank  of  New 
York  decided  to  open  accounts  and  make  discounts  and  pajmients  in  this 
currency,  distinct  from  those  in  .specie  or  the  bills  of  the  bank.  This  was 
continued  for  several  years,  discounts  in  i)aper  being  done  on  Tuesda\'S 
and  in  specie  on  Thursdays.  The  1 791  the  bank  obtained  its  first  charter 
from  the  State,  and  on  May  2,  of  that  year  the  directors  named  in  the  Act 
of  the  incorporation  formally  accepted  the  charter,  assumed  all  the  exist- 
ing liabilities  of  the  former  company,  and  re-elected  the  former  officers. 
Its  paid-up  capital  was  then  S3  18,250,  with  tleposits  amounting  to  $yy2)r 
709,  and  discounts  $845,940.  The  circulating  notes  outstanding  were 
5181,254.  The  business  flourished  and  semi-annual  dividends  were 
segularly  declared;  that  for  the  first  half  year   under   the   charter   being 


59 

seven  per  cent.  During  the  same  six  months,  May  to  November  1791, 
the  discounts  were  $10,558,669,  and  the  total  cash  received  was  ^42,661,- 
664.  These  figures  will  illustrate  the  extent  of  mercantile  tranactions  in 
the  City  of  New  York  at  that  time. 

The  Bank  of  New  York  enjoyed  a  substantial  monopoly  of  the 
banking  business  in  that  city  for  fifteen  years.  From  1 784  to  1 799  it  had 
no  competitor  nor  rival,  save  the  branch  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States 
which  during  this  time  did  but  little  business.  It  had  obtained  its  charter 
with  great  difficult}-  and  those  interested  in  its  prosperity  could  scarceh- 
be  expected  to  look  with  complacency  on  any  attempt  to  establish  an 
institution  to  compete  with  it.  "  Neither,"  says  its  historian,  "did  the 
public  desire  any  additional  banking  facilities."  Had  any  open  attempt 
been  made  to  obtain  a  State  charter  for  a  rival  concern,  the  older  bank 
undoubtedly  would  have  opposed  it  to  the  bitter  end.  But  suddenly  and 
without  premonition  a  formidable  corporation  made  its  appearance  as  a 
bank  of  deposit,  discount  and  issue  in  New  York.  This  was  the  result 
of  the  craft  and  sagacity  of  Aaron  Burr.  In  the  spring  of  1799  a  petition 
was  presented  to  the  Legislature  asking  for  a  charter  for  a  compan)-  with 
a  capital  of  $2,000,000  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  a  supply  of  pure 
water  into  the  City  of  New  York.  The  prevalence  of  yellow  fever  during 
the  summer  before  had  been  largely  ascribed  to  the  use  of  contaminated 
water,  and  had  created  an  alarm  which  made  the  passage  of  an\'  bill  to 
improve  the  sanitar)-  condition  of  that  city  an  easy  matter.  Toward  the 
end  of  the  session  the  bill  incorporating  the  Manhattan  Company  was 
accordingh'  passed  by  the  Legislature,  without  a  suspicion  on  the  part 
of  the  great  majority  of  those  who  voted  for  it  that  it  contained  a  grant 
of  banking  pri\eleges  or  indeed  anything  else  but  a  franchise  for  the 
distribution  of  pure  water.  But  the  real  purpose  of  the  scheme  was  soon 
made  manifest.  While  the  bill  had  been  on  passage  throug  the  committee 
stage  it  had  been  suggested  that  the  whole  of  the  new  corporation's 
S2,ooo,ooo  capital  might  not  be  needed  at  once  in  constructing  water- 
works, and  a  clause  was  added  pro\'iding  that  the  surplus  capital  might 
be  "employed  in  the  purchase  of  public  or  other  stocks,  or  in  any  other 
moneyed  transactions  or  operations  not  inconsistent  with  the  laws  and 
constitution  of  the  State  of  New  York."  No  sooner  had  the  bill  become 
a  law  and  the  stock  fully  subscribed,  than  the  persons  interested  proceeded 
to  carry  out  their  plans  by  giving  notice  that  the  new  corporation  would 
begin  banking  operations  in  September  with  a  capital  o(  5500,000.  The 
discovery  that  so  broad  a  franchise  had  been  so  incautiously  granted 
occasioned  no  little  excitement  and  indignation.  It  was  charged  that  the 
Legislature  had  been  cheated  and  tricked  in  order  to  allow  Burr  and  his 
friends  to  obtain  control  of  a  majority  of  .stock  of  the  company  and  power 
to  use  its  capital  for  their  own  purposes.  But  it  was  too  late.  The  Man- 
hattan Company  continues  to  this  day  to  be  the  leading  state  bank  of 
New  York,  as  distinguished  from  the  national  banks,  and,  under  the  same 
broad  clause  of  its  charter  has  organized  life  and  fire  insurance  companies 
and  conducted  a  great  \yriet}'  of  other  enterprises. 

On  July  6,  1865,  the  Bank  of  New  York  re-organi/,ed  under  the 
national  banking  act,  taking  the  title  of  "The  Bank  of  New  York  National 
Banking  Association,"  which  it  still  retains,  with  a  capital  of  S2, 000,000. 
During  the  first  hundred  years  of  its  existence  it  paid  to  its  stockholders 


6o 

dividends  amounting,  m  the  aggregate,  to   gioy^   per  cent,  and   never 
passed  a  dividend  except  in  1837  when  it  was  compelled  by  law  to  do  so. 


CHAPTER   VII. 


THE    FIRST    AND    SECOND    BANKS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

On  the  organization  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  under 
present  Constitution,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in 
his   masterly   report   on   the  finances  of  the  country,  made  to  Congress 

December  13,  1790, 
recommended  the  es- 
tablisment  of  a  bank 
of  the  United  States 
and  opposed  the  issue 
of  paper  money  by  the 
Government.  At  that 
time  there  were  in  ex- 
istence in  the  country 
only  the  three  banks 
— the  Bank  of  North 
America,  the  Bank  of 
Massachusetts  and  the 
Bank  of  New  York, 
with  an  aggregate 
capital  of  S-, 000,000 
— of  whose  organiza- 
tion sketches  have 
been  given.  There 
was  no  provision  for 
the  reception  and  pay- 
ing out  of  the  bills  of 
these  banks  bp  the 
Government  and  the 
supply  of  gold  and 
silver  was  meagre. 
The  G  o  \-  e  r  n  m  e  n  t 
daily  suffered  for  the 
want  of  small  sums  in 
ready  money.  So  long 
as  specie  only  could 
be  used,  and  there 
was  no  national  bank, 
the  delay  and  ex- 
e.xpcnse  incurrctl  in  transferring  monc)-  from  place  to  place  were  burden- 
some and  vexatious.  Therefore,  it  was  argued,  a  national  bank  was 
imperatively  recjuired,  which  would  only  serve  these  purposes  but  many 
others  as  well,  by  making  temporary  loans  to  the  Government.  The  bill 
for  the  bank  was  debated  chiefly  on  two  ground.s — its  constitutionality 
and  its  expediency.      It  pas.sed  the  .Senate  with   little  opposition  but  was 


.\I.  n.  THArCHKK. 

President  First  National   Hank,   Piieblo,  Colorado 

First  National  Bank,  Trinidad    Colorada. 

First  National  Bank,  Silverton,  Colorado. 


6i 


vigorousl)'  resisted  in  the  I  louse  of  Representatives.  On  February  S, 
I79i,the  House  passed  it  by  a  vote  of  thirty-nine  to  twenty.  Before 
signini]^  it  President  Washington  required  each  of  its  cabinet  officers  to 
submit  a  written  opinion  on  its  constitutionality.     The  cabinet  was  equally 

equally  divided.  Ham- 
ilton, Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  Gen. 
Knox,  Secretary  of 
War.  affirming  its  con- 
stituality,  and  Jeffer- 
son, Secretary  of  State, 
and  Edmund  Ran- 
dolph, Attorney  Gen- 
eral, denied  it.  But  the 
bill  became  a  law  by 
the  President's  ap- 
proval, on  February 
2 5, 1 791,  and  the  bank 
at  once  went  into  oper- 
ation. The  capital  was 
fixed  at  ^io,ooo,ooo, 
divided  into  25,000 
shares  of  ,^400  each ; 
one-fifth  of  which 
might  be  subscribed 
by  the  United  States, 
but  no  other  subscriber 
might  take  more  than 
1 ,000  shares.  The 
subscriptions,  except 
that  of  the  United 
States,  were  to  be  pay  - 
able  on  e- fourth  in 
specie  and  three- 
fourths  in  certain  si.x 
per  cent  stocks  of  the 
United  States  or  in  other  three  per  cent  stocks  at  half  their  nomi- 
nal value.  The  institution  was  incorporated  under  the  style  of 
"The  President,  Directors  and  Company  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,"  to  continue  twenty  yei?rs,  expiring  March  4,  181 1.  The  bank 
was  authorized  to  hold  property  of  all  kinds,  not  exceeding,  exclusive  of 
its  capital,  $15,000,000.  Twenty-five  directors  were  to  be  elected,  by  a 
plurality  of  votes,  on  the  first  Monday  of  January  in  e\ery  year,  for  one 
year  only,  who  were  to  choose  a  president  from  their  own  number.  It 
also  provided  "That  no  other  bank  shall  be  established  by  any  future  law 
of  the  United  States  during  the  continuance  of  the  corporation  hereby 
created,  for  which  the  faith  of  the  United  States  is  hereby  pledged."  The 
bank  was  authorized  to  established  offices  of  discount  and  deposit  in  the 
several  States,  and  to  issue  notes  which  were  to  be  received  in  payments 
of  all  dues  to  the  Government.  It  was  authorized  to  sell  the  Government 
stocks  received   for  subscriptions,  but  was  forbidden  to  become  the  pur- 


H.   M.   JORALMON. 
Joralmon  &  Co, 

Bankers.  Financial  Agents  and  Attorneys.  Denver,  Colorado. 


62 

cha>er  at  such  sales.  Of  the  capital,  36,700,000  was  reserved  for  the 
chief  bank,  which  was  established  at  Philadelphia,  and  the  residue  of  S4,- 
300,000  was  to  be  divided  among  the  eight  branches  to  be  established  in 
the  principal  cities  of  the  Union.  The  entire  capital  was  subscribed  and 
applications  made  for  4,000  shares  in  excess  of  the  whole  stock,  within 
two  hours  from  the  time  the  books  for  subscription  were  opened.  The 
enterprise  was  immediateh'  successful.  The  dividends  averaged  eight  to 
ten  per  cent  per  annum,  being  much  below  those  of  the  Bank  of  North 
America  in  previous  years;  which,  in  the  words  of  a  distinguished  writer, 
"now  gradually  declined  as  other  banks  sprang  into  exi.stence."  The  pay- 
ment of  the  Government  shares  was  to  be  in  ten  annual  installements,  but 
the  trearury  department  found  it  very  difficult  to  comply  with  this  require- 
ment as  to  the  entire  payments,  the  urgent  demand  for  money  to  meet 
other  pressing  occasions  being  continious  for  several  years.  Neither  bank 
nor  Government  had  been  long  in  operation  when  the  need  arose  for  a 
temporary  loan  from  the  bank.  Congress  authorized  the  treasury  to 
procure  loans  to  pay  the  appropriations  of  the  year,  and  to  pledge  the 
duties  on  imports  and  the  tonnage  tax  for  their  repayment.  The  revenue 
came  in  so  slowly  that  its  anticipaton  in  this  manner  could  not  be  avoided 
if  Government  e.xpenditures  were  to  be  paid  as  they  became  due.  This 
policy  was  condemned  by  Albert  Gallatin,  but  was  generally  defended  on 
the  ground  that  it  was  a  wall-known  practice  with  older  governments,  and 
that  there  was  no  other  way  of  getting  the  money  imperatively  required. 

These  loans  obtained  from  time  to  time,  were  of  three  kinds:  First, 
those  made  in  anticipation  of  taxes  to  meet  current  expenditures;  the  last 
of  which  was  made  in  1795.  Second,  the  sinking  commissionners  were 
authorized  to  borrow  money,  not  exceeding  $1,000,000  annuall}-,  in  anti- 
cipation of  the  revenues,  to  pay  interest.  Each  loan  of  this  kind  was  to 
be  reimbursed  within  one  year  after  it  was  made.  Third,  loans  were  also 
founded  on  a  pledge  of  the  revenue  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  a  specific 
case  rather  than  for  a  general  purpose.  The  first  loan  of  this  kind  was 
to  cover  the  expense  of  an  Indian  war.  Of  other  subsequent  loans,  one 
was  to  provide  money  to  ramson  American  sailors  held  in  slaver)-  by  the 
Algerines.  One  still  later  was  to  equip  and  maintain  the  ships  which 
carried  on  the  war  which  the  United  States,  first  of  all  civilized  powers, 
waged  against  the  Harbary  States  for  the  protection  of  its  commerce  and 
citizens  rather  than  pay  tribute. 

Between  the  years  1796  and  1802  the  United  States  disposed  of  its 
stock  in  the  bank  at  a  net  profit  of  $1,137,152.29,  equal  to  fiftj'-seven  per 
cent  on  the  original  investment.  In  Augu.st,  1791,  we  are  told.  United 
States  Bank  scrip  sold  for  195,  in  consequence  of  the  mania  for  specul- 
ation. In  September  of  the  same  year,  it  fell  to  iio,  but  rallied,  almost 
at  once,  to  145.  The  last  sales  of  its  stock  on  Government  account,  in 
1802,  were  made  at  145.  It  was  a  successful  and  prosperous  enterprise 
from  first  to  last. 

Ikit,  unfortunately  for  the  bank,  during  the  entire  term  of  its  exi.stence 
it  was  looked  upon  and  dealt  with  by  a  large  majority  of  business  men,  and 
by  men  in  i)ublic  life  with  scarcely  an  exception,  as  a  political  rather  than 
a  business  undertaking.  Its  projector,  Hamilton,  in  1791  urged  its 
creation  "as  a  powerful  political  engine."  Political  t)i)position  continued 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  its  career.     When    Jefferson    became 


63 

President  he  tlesired  Albert  Gallatin,  then  Secretai'}-  of  the  Treasury,  to 
make  a  judicious  distributitm  of  his  favors  among  all  the  banks,  since  the 
Stock  of  the  L'nited  States  Bank  was  held  lar<^ely  by  forei<^ners,  and, 
"were  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  to  swallow  up  all  the  others,  and 
monopolize  the  whole  banking  business  of  the  United  States — which  the 
demands  we  furnish  them  will  tend  shortly  to  favor — we  might,  on  a  mis- 
understanding with  a  foreign  power,  be  immensely  embarrassed  by  an\' 
disaffection  in  the  bank."  When  the  territory  of  Louisiana  was  purchased 
in  1805.  Gallatin  was  desirous  of  establishing  a  branch  bank  at  New 
Orleans.  He  considered  the  step  of  the  highest  importance.  But  the 
President  vehemently  opposed  every  extension  of  the  bank.  He  wrote 
to  Gallatin:  "This  institution  is  one  of  the  most  deadly  ho.stility  existing 
against  the  principles  and  form  of  our  Constitution.  What  an  obstruit- 
ion  could  not  this  Bank  of  the  United  States,  with  all  its  branch  banks, 
be  in  time  of  war!"  But  Gallatin,  being  brought  into  more  intimate 
relations  with  the  bank,  did  not  sha^'e  the  fears  which  Mr.  Jefferson  ex- 
pressed, and  the  branch  was  established  at  New  Orleans.  While  the  bank 
existed  the  funds  of  the  Government  were  deposited  with  it  to  the  credit 
of  the  United  States  Treasury.  Ihey  were  considered  in  the  Trcaaury 
from  the  time  of  depositing  them,  and  were  subject  to  the  Treasurer's 
control.  The  Government  ceased  to  be  a  stockholder  in  1802,  and  only 
once  applied  for  a  loan  after  1805.  The  revenues  of  the  Government  had 
grown  more  ample,  its  wants  were  not  so  pressing,  and  loans  were  un- 
necessar}'.  With  the  great  majority  in  Congress  the  bank  was  endured 
only  as  a  convenience  for  obtaining  such  loans.  Yet  the  other  advantages 
derived  by  the  Government  from  the  bank  were  neither  few  nor  unimpor- 
tant. As  stated  by  Gallatin  in  a  communication  to  Congress  recommand- 
ing  a  renewal  of  the  charter,  these  advantages  were,  first,  with  respect  to 
keeping  the  public  money  ;  another  concerned  its  transmission  from  point 
to  point,  both  at  home  and  abroad;  a  third,  and  the  greatest,  related  to 
the  collection  of  the  revenue.  The  punctuality  of  payments  introduced 
by  the  banking  system,  and  the  facilities  which  it  afforded  importers  in- 
debted for  revenue  bonds,  had  enabled  the  Government  to  collect  with 
greater  facility  and  fewer  losses  the  revenues  from  the  imports  than  it 
could  have  done  had  no  such  bank  existed.  One  chief  complaint  was 
that  the  bank  and  its  branches,  and  particularly  the  branch  in  New  York, 
were  more  inclined  to  grant  loans  to  the  members  of  one  political  party  than 
to  others.  Whether  this  charge  contained  any  truth  or  not  the  complaint 
ceased  to  be  heard  after  the  creation  of  the  Manhattan  Company  in  1799. 
The  bank  was  required  to  make  weekly  reports  to  the  Secretary  ot 
the  Treasur}-,  but  the  following,  for  Jannuary  24,  181 1,  is  one  of  the 
only  two  balanced  statements  found  on  record: 

RESOURCES- 
Loans  and  discounts,        -         -         -         -         -         -     $14,578,294 

United  States  six  per  cent  stock,     -----  2,750,000 

Other  United  States  indebtedness,     .         -          -         -  57,046 

Due  from  other  banks,          ....--  894,145 

Real  estate,     --------  500,653 

Notes  of  other  banks  on  hand.      -          ...          -  393,341 

Specie,  .--.--.--  5,009,567 

Total, $24,183,046 


64 


LIABILITIES. 

Capital  stock,  .  .         .         . 

Undivided  surplus,         .         .         -         - 
Circulating  notes  outstanding, 
Individual  deposits,       .         .         .         . 
United  States  deposits,     .         -  -         ■ 

Due  to  other  banks,       -  .  .  - 

Unpaid  draft  outstanding. 

Total, 


$io  000,000 

-  509^678 
5^037,125 

-  5'904.423 
1,929.999 

-  634,348 

i7i>743 

$24,183,046 


In    1808    the   bank    petitioned   for  a   renewal   of  its   charter   which 
would  expire  three  years  later.     This  application  was  favored  by  Gallatin, 

Secretary  of  the 
Treasery,  and  by 
Crawford  and 
Pickering  in  the 
Senate,  and  op- 
posed by  Mr. 
Clay.The  trouble 
with  France  and 
England  then 
impending  made 
war  probable  in 
the  early  future 
with  one  or  both 
of  these  powers. 
The  State  banks 
expected  to  profit 
from  the  disturb- 
a  n  c  e  s  which 
would  accom- 
pany open  war 
and  contributed 
largely  to  prevent 
any  considera- 
tion of  the  bank's 
application  until 
1 8 10.  when  a  de- 
cision could  no 
longer  be  delay- 
ed. The  neces- 
sit\'  of  the  bank 
,., .  w  as      warmly 

urged      by     the 

Treasury  (lc])artnicnt.  The  debate  in  l)<)th  branch  o.  Congress  was 
long,  able  and  l)itter.  The  old  cpiestion  of  its  constitut  onality  was  dis- 
cussed at  great  length,  and  its  opponents  denied  that  the  institutionn  was 
at  all  neces.sary  to  aid  the  Government  in  discharging  its  functions,  insist- 
ing that  it  was  evident,  from  the  rapid  muliplying  of  State  banks,  that 
there  was  a  redundancy  of  capital.  It  was  asserted  that  in  case  the  bank 
should  not  be  rechartered  that  the  quantity  of  specie  in  the  country  would 


I'rcsklcnl  C;i|iit;i 


MF.Ill 'IKI)    l;.    WILSON. 


65 

be  reduced  by  the  exportation  of  the  lart;c  amount  of  its  capital  which 
belonged  to  foreigners.  The  bill  was  defeated  in  the  Senate  by  the  cast- 
ing vote  of  the  Vice-President,  George  Clinton,  on  h'cbruary  20,  181 1, 
and  subsequentl\- failed  in  the  House  by  a  minority  of  one  vote.  The 
bank  was  now  obliged  to  wind  up  its  affairs,  which  was  done  with  very 

little  disturbance 
to  the  business 
interest  of  the 
countr}-.  Within 
eighteen  months 
from  March  4, 
181 1,  the  stock- 
holders had  re- 
ceived 8  8  per 
cent  upon  their 
stock.  On  finally 
closing  its  busi- 
ness, the  assets 
yielded  to  the 
stockholders  an 
excess  ofSyi  per 
cent  above  the 
par  value  of  the 
stock.  Before 
going  into  liqui- 
dation, the  bank 
made  an  unsuc- 
cessful applica- 
tion to  the  Leg- 
islature of  Penn- 
.sylvania  for  a 
charter  f  o  r  a 
State  bank  with 
a  capital  ofS5,- 
000,000, 

D  u  r  i  11  g  the 
war  of  1812-15 
the  National  (jovcrnmcnt,  which  was  embarrassed  b\'  the  want  of 
means,  had  received  \cr\-  considerable  loans  and  other  timely  ser- 
\ice  from  the  State  banks.  Owing  largely  to  such  ad\ances,  the 
State  banks,  with  the  exception  of  those  of  New  England,  were,  in 
-August  and  September,  1814,  dri\cn  to  a  suspension  of  specie  pay- 
ments. Toward  the  end  of  1 814  the  finances  of  the  Government  were 
again  in  seemingly  inextricable  confusion.  Alexander  J.  Dallas  became 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  on  October  6,  18 14,  and,  within  a  fortnight 
thereafter,  made  to  Congress  a  report  of  extraordinary  ability  and  lucidity 
upon  the  condition  of  afi^airs.  In  this  communication  he  strongly  recom- 
mended the  re-establishment  of  a  national  bank,  as  the  remedy  required 
to  bring  the  finances  once  more  into  order.  The  State  banks  again  were 
opposed  to  its  creation.  With  them  were  the  speculators  in  exchange, 
whose  iufluence  was  verv  considerable,  and  all  whose  interest  were  served 


JOHN    K.  OTTLEV. 
Cashier  Anieritan  Trust  and   Banking  Co.,  Atlanta,  Georgia. 


66 

by  a  continuation  of  the  suspension  of  specie  payments.  Various  plans 
were  broui^ht  forward  in  Congress  which  resulted  in  nothing,  until,  on 
January  20,  i8i  5,  a  bill  was  passed.  This  was  vetoed  by  President  Mad- 
ison, not  for  lack  of  constitutionality,  as  he  considered  that  point  already 
settled  by  the  courts,  but  on  the  ground  that  it  would  not  accomplish  the 
objects  rendered  necessary  by  the  state  of  the  revenue  and  the  condition 
of  the  country.  On  April  3,  181 6,  however,  a  bill  for  a  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  which  had  previously  passed  the  House  of  Representatives, 
was  adopted  by  the  Senate,  and,  receiving  the  signature  of  the  President, 
became  a  law  on  April  10,  1816. 

The  charter  was  limited  to  twenty  years  and  the  capital  to  535,000,- 
000,  composed  of  350,000  shares  of  Sioo  each,  57,000,000  was  to  be 
subscribed  by  the  Government,  payable  in  coin  or  in  United  States  five 
per  cent  stocks  at  the  option  of  the  Government.  Other  subscriptions 
were  payable  one-fourth  in  coin  and  the  remainder  in  coin  or  United 
States  stocks.  Five  of  its  twenty-five  directors  were  to  be  appointed  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  The  bank  was  to  be  made  a  public 
depository  and  was  to  aid  the  Government,  free  of  charge  therefor,  in  ne- 
gotiating its  loans.  It  was  empowered  to  establish  branches  and  to  issue 
circulating  notes  which  were  to  be  receivable  in  all  payments  to  the 
United  States.  No  other  bank,  outside  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  was 
to  be  establislied  by  Congress  during  the  continuance  of  this  charter, 
and,  in  consideration  of  the  grants  therein,  the  bank  was  to  pay  to  the 
United  States  $1,500,000  in  three  installments.  It  was  authorized  to 
organize  and  commence  business  as  soon  as  58,400,000.  exclusive  of 
the  subscription  of  the  United  States,  was  paid  in.  It  was  prohibited  from 
lending  on  the  account  of  the  United  States  more  than  5500,000,  or  to 
any  State  more  than  $50,000,  or  to  any  foreign  prince  or  power  an\-  sum 
whatever,  without  the  sanction  of  law  being  previousK-  obtained.  It 
went  into  operation  January  7,  1817,  and  it  was  through  its  agency  that 
the  other  banks  throughout  the  country  were  enabled  and  induced  to 
resume  specie  payments.  At  that  time  bank-notes  at  Washington  and 
IJaltimore  were  twenty-two  per  cent  below  par;  at  l'hiladcl[)hia  from 
seventeen  to  eighteen  per  cent;  and  at  New  York  and  Charleston  they 
were  from  seven  to  ten  per  cent.  In  the  interior  the  depreciation  was 
much  greater.  This  was  nearl}-  the  worst  stage  tT  the  monetary  trouble 
resulting  from  the  late  war,  and  at  the  \ergc  of  that  financial  crisis 
which  culminated  in  1819-20.  As  soon  as  the  bank  opened  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  directed  importers  to  lodge  their  bonds  with  it,  the  bank 
agreeing,  greatl\-  to  the  relief  of  the  Treasury,  to  tliscount  the  notes  gi\en 
U)V  duties,  to  secure  which  these  bonds  were  deposited.  Congress  resoKed 
on  April  30,  1S16,  that  all  duties,  ta.xes  and  debts  payable  to  the  United 
States  after  February  20,  1817,  should  be  paid  in  the  "legal  currency"  of 
the  Government,  or  Treasury  notes,  or  in  notes  of  the  Ikuik  of  the  United 
States,  or  of  other  banks  which  paitl  their  notes  on  demand  "in  the  legal 
currency  of  the  United  States."  The  .State  banks  agreed  to  resume  specie 
payments  in  Iul\',  iSijJjul  neillur  Mi",  ("raw  ford,  .Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, nor  the  L'niled  States  jiank,  h.ul  nuicii  f.iith  that  they  would  fulfill 
their  agreement.  Both  the  (ioxernment  and  the  bank  were  desirous  of 
hastening  tiie  return  of  specie  paxnients.  and  the  latter  began  negotiatiiMi 
to  that  k:\u\.     (.)ne  consideration  nioviiiLr  the  bank   to  do  so  was  that,  if  it 


67 

succeedctl,  the  dblii^ation  which  it  had  incurred  nfdiscountinij^  all  the  notes 
of  importers  wcuild  be  very  much  diminished,  for  if  tlie  State  banks  paid  in 
specie  their  notes  would  be  readily  taken  by  the  Government.  ( )n  the 
other  hand,  if  the  State  banks  refused  to  make  any  arranj^ement  for  resum- 
ing;" specie  pa\ment,  a  large  amount  of  valuable  paper  for  discount  pur- 
poses would  go  immediately  to  the  National  bank,  and  the  State  banks 
would  thus  lose  many  of  their  best  customers.  As  the  result  of  this 
communit)'  of  interests  a  plan  was  devised  for  resuming  on  February  20, 
1S17.  (^n  that  day  the  balances  due  to  the  Government  in  the  several 
banks,  which  ever  since  the  closing  of  the  first  Bank  of  the  United  States 
had  kept  its  deposits  with  the  State  banks,  were  to  be  transferred  to  the 
]-5ank  of  the  United  States,  retained  by  it  until  July  i,  when  they  were  to 
be  paid,  with  the  interest  thereon.  In  liciuidating  the  balances  which 
might  be  due.  The  United  States  Bank  agreed  to  credit  the  banks  respect- 
ively with  the  amount  of  their  checks  on  all  banks  which  were  party  to 
the  agreement.  The  payment  of  the  balances  which  might  accumulate 
against  the  banks,  subsequently  to  the  transfer  of  the  balances  previously 
mentioned,  from  the  payment  to  them  of  Government  dues  in  return  for 
money  previously  borrowed,  was  not  to  be  demanded  b\-  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  until  it  and  its  branches  had  discounted  for  individuals, 
other  than  those  having  duties  to  pa)',  certain  specified  sums  in  the  several 
principal  cities  of  the  country,  provided  the  money  should  be  called  for 
within  sixty  days,  by  borrowers  offering  good  securities.  If  the  whole 
amount  so  to  be  loaned  should  not  betaken  by  individual  customers  then 
the  residue  was  to  be  lent  to  the  banks  signing  the  agreement.  This  plan 
for  restoring  specie  payments  was  wholly  successful.  They  were  resumed 
and  maintained  while  the  charter  of  the  bank  continued  in  force. 

When  the  bank  began  business  eighteen  branches  were  established 
in  different  States.  The  notes  of  the  bank,  whether  issued  by  the  parent 
bank  or  by  any  of  the  branches,  where  everywhere  received  in  payment 
of  duties  and  taxes,  and  were  redeemable  in  specie  at  any  office  of  the  bank. 
Another  ver\'  important  function  which  it  performed  was  in  ecjualizing 
the  rates  of  domestic  exchange.  Through  its  agenc}'  funds  could  be 
transmitted  from  one  part  of  the  Union  to  another  at  an  expense  not 
exceeding  one-half,  and  frequently  less  than  one-fourth  that  commonly 
charged  by  private  dealers,  not  exposed  to  the  competition  of  the  bank. 

From  1820  to  1835  the  country  was  prosperous,  the  bank  recovered 
from  its  embarrassments,  and  its  stock  rose  steadily  in  value.  Long 
before  1828  the  bank  had  lived  down  all  respectable  opposition;  and  it 
was  therefore  a  surprise  to  all  parties  when  President  Jackson,  in  his  first 
message,  in  December,  1829,  took  ground  against  a  renewal  of  its  charter 
when  it  should  expire  in  i<S36.  The  agitation  thus  awakened  grew  in 
intensity,  until  it  culminated  on  July  16,  1832,  in  the  veto  b}-  President 
Jackson  of  a  bill  re-chartering  the  bank. 

The  interval  of  about  six  years  between  the  commencement  of  Jack- 
--on's  warfare  upon  the  bank  and  the  expiration  of  its  charter  is  memorable 
for  the  \iolence  and  acrimony  of  the  dispute  between  the  administration  and 
its  supporters  on  one  hand,  and  the  bank  and  its  friends  on  the  other,  both  in 
and  out  of  Congress.  The  famous  order  for  the  removal  of  the  Government 
deposits  was  issued  in  1833  '^Y  ^''-  Tane\',  who  was  made  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  for  this  purpose,  his  predecessor,  Mr.  Duane,  having  declined 


68 


to  issue  such  an  order.    When  Congress  re-assembled  in  December,  1833, 
resolutions  were  adopted  in  both   Houses;  those  of  the  Senate  censuring 
the   President  and   Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  usurpation  of  powers, 
while  in  the  House  it  was  declared  that  the  bank  ought  not  to  be  re-chart- 
ered, that  the  public  deposits  ought  not  to  be  restored  to  it,  that  the  State 
banks  should  be  continued  as   depositories,  and  that   Congress   should 
further   regulate  the  subject  by  law.     Among  the  early  results  which 
followed  the  removal  of  the  deposits  was  the  expansion  of  their  issues  by 
the  State  depositories,  and  the  wild  and  general  inflation  of  the  currency 
by  the  multitude  of  other  banks,  old  and  new.     The  aggregate  of  circu- 
lating notes,  exclusive  of  those  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  increased 
from    $61,000,000,   in    1830,   to    5149,000,000   in    1837.      In    1830   the 
currency  of  the  country  had  been  characterized  by  the  finance  committee 
of  the  Senate  as  being 
more  sound  and  uni- 
form  than   that  pos- 
sessed   by  any   other 
country;  and  yet  with- 
in   seven    years    after 
this  all  the  banks  then 
in  operation,  including 
the  great  Bank  of  the 
United   States,  which 
had  been  re-chartered 
by  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania,  went    into 
suspension.  The  bank, 
when  denied  a  renew  al 
of  its  charter  by  Con- 
gress, did  not  close  up 
its  affairs,  but  applied 
for,    and    obtained,    a 
charter  from  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania,  P'eb- 
ruary    18,    1H36,  thir- 
teen days  before   the 
expiration  of  its  chart- 
er from   the   National 
Government.    This 
was  substantially  a  re- 
newal for  thirty  years 
of  the  old  charter  and 
under  the  old  corpor- 
ate name,  but  with  a 
change    as    to    the 

amount  and  terms  of  the  bonus  to  be  paid  the  .Stale  for  such  charter. 
Colonel  Benton,  a  sincere  if  not  unprejudiced  opponent  of  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  characterized  the  Pennsylvania  charter  as  indicating, 
by  every  circumstance  of  its  enactment,  corruption  and  bribery  in  the 
members  who  passed  it,  and  an  attemjjt  to  bribe  the  whole  people 
of  that  State  throutrh  the  bonus  to  be  di.stributed  among  them.     This 


.Xmerican   !\Iana>; 


C.   11.  SIl.I.lMAN. 
Land   M.>ii-ai;e   liank  of 
F..11   Wnitli.  ■|\-xa>. 


L-xas   (I.iTiiitcJ), 


69 

bonus,  had  the  bank   rcniaincd  solvent  and  in   existence  lont(  enouj^h, 
woulil  not  have  fallen  short  of  $5,000,000. 

The  histoiA'  of  the  bank  subsequent  to  the  crisis  of  1837  was  a 
disastrous  one.  It  suspended  payments  as  frequently  as  other  State 
banks,  and  finally  succumbed  to  difficulties  which  prudent  management 
would  ha\e  enabled  it  to  oxercome.  It  made  three  several  assignments  in 
1 841,  to  secure  various  liabilities,  the  last  and  final  assignment  being  on 
September  4.  1841.  The  57,000,000  of  stock  held  by  the  United  States 
previous  to  the  time  at  which  the  institution  became  a  State  bank,  was 
paid  back  in  full,  and  the  Government  realized  a  very  handsome  profit 
upon  its  inxestment,  as  will  appear  from  the  following  .statement,  taken 
from  the  report  of  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency  for  1876: 

Bonus  paid  by  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  $1,500,000.00 

Dividends  received  from  the  bank,     ....  7,118,416.29 
Proceeds   of  Stock  sold  and   moneys   received 

from  the  l)ank, 9,424,750.78 

Total, $18,043,167.07 

Subscription   of  capital  stock   ])aid    in    United 

States  five  per  cent  bonds, $7,000,000.00 

Interest  paid   by  United   States  on  same,      ,     .      4,950,000.00 

1 1.950,000.00 
Profit  on  Investment,    ....  $6,093,167.07 

Nicholas  Biddle  was  president  of  the  bank  from  January,  1823,  to 
March,  1839.  ^^  ^'^^  time  of  his  resignation  the  shares  were  selling  at 
III,  having  in  1837  sold  at  137;  but  in  i<S43,  after  the  failure  of  the 
bank,  the  shares  were  quoted  at  one  and  seven-eighths  per  cent.  The 
circulating  notes  of  the  bank,  together  with  the  deposits,  were  paid  in 
full,  principal  and  interest;  but  fhe  whole  capital  of  §28,000,000  were 
lost  to  the  share-holders. 


CHAPTKR  VHI. 

STATK    i;.\.\KS    LNTII.     I  8 1 6. 

We  have  seen  that  at  the  time  of  the  establishment  of  the  first 
United  States  Bank  three  State  banks  existed:  The  Bank  of  North 
America,  the  Bank  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  Bank  of  New  York.  The 
course  of  business  to  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  is  sufficiently 
indicated  in  the  accounts  given  of  these  institutions.  They  served  cpiite 
as  much  to  steady  the  business  of  the  country  as  to  extend  it.  They 
inculcated  a  promptness  of  payment  and  regidarity  in  conducting  all 
business  affairs,  to  which  merchants  had  generally  theretofore  been 
strangers.  As  business  expanded  merchants  gradually  adopted  the  habit 
of  selling  their  goods  on  credit,  and,  rexjuiring  Spanish  milled  dollars 
for  shipment  to  India  and  China  and  doubloons  for  the  purchase  of  West 
Indian  produce  for  Europe,  they  became  more  dependent  on  the  banks 
for  accommodations  and  facilities,  and  the  number  of  these  institutions 


70 

niiiltiplictl  with  the  growth  of  trade.  The  bank  obtained  specie  from 
various  sources,  but  while  war  lasted  between  Spain  and  Great  Britain 
our  countrj'men  were  the  carriers  and  commercial  agents  of  Spain,  and 
as  nearly  all  the  silver  product  of  Mexico  and  South  America  passed 
through  this  channel,  the  banks  of  this  country  early  accumulated  a  sub- 
stantial and  abundant  fund  of  specie.  From  the  peace  of  Amiens  in  i8oi 
the  influx  of  silver  abated,  although  still  considerable.  Gouge  says: 
"The  specie  constantly  ///  transitu  from  South  America  through  the 
United  States  to  other  parts  of  the  world  was  so  great  in  amount  that  a 
retention  of  the  quarterh-  or  semi-quarterly  supply  for  onh'  a  month  or 
two  was  sufficient  to  relieve  the  banks  from  the  difficulties  into  which 
they  were  occasionally  brought  by  extending  their  operations  too  far." 
Banking  on  the  whole  was  a  very  profitable  business  in  those  days. 
From  1792  to  1808  the  Bank  of  Pennsylvania  never  divided  less  than 
eight  per  cent,  and  sometimes  ten.  In  1792  the  Bank  of  North  America 
divided  fifteen  per  cent,  the  next  year  thirteen  and  one-half,  and  for  the  five 
succeeding  years  twelve  per  cent  annually.  ( )ur  commerce  being  exposed 
to  frequent  interruptions  b}'  belligerents,  the  necessity  for  borrowing  was 
often  so  urgent  as  to  make  the  banks  masters  of  the  situation,  and  money 
was  not  infrequently  lent  by  them  for  two  and  three  per  cent  a  month. 
The  business  of  banking  was  less  openly  conducted  than  at  the  present 
day.  It  was  part  of  the  policy  of  every  bank  to  keep  its  transactions  as 
carefully  hidden  as  possible.  It  was  long  before  people  generally  became 
sufficient!)-  accustomed  to  these  institutions,  either  to  appreciate  or  admit 
their  utilit)-.  I^xcept  a  branch  of  the  United  States  Bank,  which  was  set 
up  in  Norfolk  in  1799,  no  bank  existed  in  Virginia  until  1804.  Yet  a  sub- 
sequent w'riter  in  the  Richmond  Enqiihur  declared  that  until  this  branch 
appeared  there  no  people  enjcn-ed  greater  happiness.  "The  desk  of  every 
agriculturist  in  \'irginia  had  some  gold  or  silx-er  to  spare  if  he  were  a 
prudent  and  industrious  man.  or  he  had  something  like  money  to  spare 
in  the  hands  of  his  merchant,  who,  in  the  da\'s  of  wliich  I  am  speaking, 
acted  as  a  banker  to  his  prospering  customers.  Nor  was  any  interest 
paid  upon  such  inone}-s  as  might  be  deposited  in  the  hands  of  the 
merchant,  because  Ijoth  planter  and  merchant  considered  themsel\-cs 
accommodated  In'  tlie  arrangement — the  planter  in  ha\-ing  his  monc)- 
safely  kept  for  him  until  he  wanted  to  use  it,  and  the  merchant  in  liaxing 
the  use  of  the  money  until  it  was  called  for..' 

As  for  the  need  of  banks  to  transmit  funds  from  one  jilace  to  another, 
he  adds:  "Nor  was  there  the  least  inconxenience  in  transmitting  mone\- 
from  one  point  to  another  through  the  mercliants  who.^e  credit  was  then 
as  good  as  the  credit  of  the  banks  now,  if  not  better.  Banks  ha\e  de- 
stroyed the  credit  and  confidence  which  men  had  in  one  another." 

The  banks  in  the  greater  cities  having  comparatively  large  cajiitals, 
were  conducted  on  principles  which  afforded  greater  safety  to  the  public 
than  the  smaller  institutions  situated  elsewhere,  whose  capital  often  to  a 
considerable  e.sient  was  fictitious,  consisting  partly  in  notes  secured  by 
stock  and  managed  by  persons  "  with  who.^e  skill,  caution  or  integrity  the 
public  was  very  little  accjuainted."  Yet  the  latter  were  the  banks  whicli 
had  the  most  e.\tensi\e  circulation.  In  i  So(j  the  three  banks  in  Boston 
made  the  folUnviu'r  return: 


71 

CAIMTAI..  t  IRCULA'IIOX.  SPECIE. 

Massachusetts, $    800,000         $139,850         $105,670 

Union,         1,200,000  279.431  132,242 

Boston, 1,800,000  226,940  161,270 

$3,800,000         $646,221         $399,182 

At  the  same  time,  fi\e  other  banks  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts 
made  the  folUn\int;"  return:  .:(;   ' 

CAIMIAI,.         CIRCULATION.  SPECIE. 

Lincohi  and  Kennebec,        ....  $200,000  $242,847  $20,920 

Northampton 75.000  122,363  i9j377 

Hallowell  and  Augusta,        ....  200,000  166,123  23,664 

Penobscot, 150,000  183,470  19,586 

Berkshire 75,000  83,060  7,682 

$700,000         $797,863  $91,229 

These  figures  forcibly  illustrate  the  difference  between  the  safe  and 
cautious  method  of  conducting  a  banking  business  obser\ed  in  the  cities 
and  the  erratic  and  irresponsible  method  of  operating  outside  them. 

After  the  Hank  of  Massachu.setts  the  next  bank  chartered  in  that 
State  was  the  Union  Bank,  organized  in  1792,  with  a  capital  of  31,200,- 
000,  of  which  S400,oco  was  subscribed  by  the  State.  In  1795  the  Nan- 
tucket and  Merrimac  Banks  were  established.  Up  to  1799  but  one  more 
bank  was  chartered  in  Massachusetts.  In  that  }ear  a  law  was  enacted 
prohibiting  the  establishment  of  unincorporated  associations.  In  1803 
an  act  requiring  semi-annual  return^  to  be  made  by  the  banks  to  the 
Goxernor  and  Council  was  passed,  and  in  1805  an  amendment  required 
these  returns  to  be  sworn  to.  In  1805  si.xteen  banks  were  in  operation. 
From  1805  to  181 1  but  one  new  bank  was  chartered.  Two  more  were 
chartered  in  181  i.  In  all  the  charters  granted  by  Massachusetts  after 
1793,  proN'ision  was  made  for  a  State  subscription,  and  in  181 2  the  State 
held  about  $1,000,000  out  of  the  S8,ooo,ooo  of  stock  of  the  banks  ot 
the  State.  Nearly  all  the  banks  were  re-chartered  in  1811.  In  18 12  the 
State  first  imposed  a  tax  on  bank  capital.  In  181 3  the  system  of  compelling 
the  redc.nption  at  par  in  Boston  of  the  notes  of  the  eastern  banks,  by 
assorting  and  returning  the  notes  to  the  place  of  issue,  was  inaugurated 
by  the  New  England  Bank  organized  that  year.  This  was  the  beginning 
of  what  was  afterwards  known  as  the  Suffolk  Bank  system. 

Up  to  June  II,  1812,  the  date  of  the  declaration  of  war  with  Great 
Britain,  nineteen  banks  were  chartered  by  the  Legislature  of  New  York. 
Seven  of  these:  the  Bank  of  New  York,  Merchants',  Mechanics",  Union, 
and  City  Bank  of  New  York  City,  the  New  York  State  Bank  of  Alban}-, 
and  the  Bank  of  Utica,  are  now  National  banks,  and  the  Manhattan  Com- 
pany and  Bank  of  America  are  the  leading  State  banks. 

During  the  period  from  1791  to  1812  jjolitical  feeling  was  bitter,  and 
obtaining  the  charters  of  the  banks  organized  during  this  time  was,  in 
many  cases,  the  occasion  of  much  strife  and  intrigue.  Governor  Tomp- 
kins, afterward  \'ice- President  of  the  United  States,  in  the  year  181 3  pro- 
rogued the  Legislature,  assigning  as  one  reason  for  his  action  the  attempt 
to  secure  a  bank  chaiter  through  the  use  of  corrupt  means.  These 
charters  were  in  the  nature  of  special  privileges,  granted  to  particular  per- 
sons, and  all  others  were  specially  restrained  by  law  from  participating  in 


72 

the  business  of  banking.  A  restraining  act  was  passed  in  1804  to  com- 
pel private  banking  institutions  to  wind  up  their  business,  leaving  a  clear 
field  to  chartered  corporations,  This  act  prohibited  any  person,  under  a 
penalty  of  Si. 000,  from  subscribing  to,  or  becoming  a  member  of  any 
association  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  deposits,  or  from  doing  any  busi- 
ness which  incorporated  banks,  by  their  charters,  were  permitted  to  do. 

The  first  institution  in  the  State  of  Ohio  in  the  nature  of  a  bank  was 
chartered  under  the  name  of  the  Miami  Exporting  Company,  in  1803, 
immediately  upon  the  admission  of  this  State  to  the  Union.  It  was  chart- 
ered for  torty  years,  with  a  nominal  capital  of  $500,000,  in  shares  of  $100 
each,  payable  five  dollars  in  cash  and  the  remainder  in  produce  or  mer- 
chandise. Although  in  forming  a  trading  company,  it  issued  bills  and 
redeemed  them  in  notes  of  other  banks.  The  first  regular  bank  was 
chartered  in  1808,  and  was  located  in  Marietta,  with  a  capital  of  $500,000. 
During  the  same  year  another  bank  was  established  at  Chillicothe,  then 
capital  of  the  State,  with  a  capital  of  SiOO,ooo.  From  1809  to  1816  four 
banks  only  were  chartered  in  (3hio. 

The  first  bank  in  the  State  of  Illinois  was  established  under  its  Ter- 
ritorial Government  in  181 3,  at  Sha.vneetown,  and  three  years  after  was 
incorporated  for  a  term  of  twenty  years  with  a  capital  of  $300,000.  In 
1835  its  charter  was  extended  to  1857  and  its  capital  increased  to  $1,400,- 
000  the  additional  capital  being  subscribed  by  the  State. 

The  first  serious  explosion  in  the  banking  business  in  New  England 
after  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  occurred  in  1809.  The 
notes  of  many  banks  outside  of  Boston  were  at  a  varying  discount,  run- 
ning as  high  as  five  per  cent,  and  the  merchants  and  retail  dealers  in  that 
city  on  whom  the  burden  of  depreciation  fell  combined  for  their  own  pro- 
tection. They  appointed  a  committee  and  raised  a  fund  for  the  purpose 
of  sending  home  the  bills  of  banks  outside  of  that  city  received  in  the 
course  of  their  business  and  procuring  their  redemption  and  of  bringing 
suits  against  banks  neglecting  or  refusing  payment.  This  step  brought 
on  a  crisis.  First,  the  Farmers'  Exchange  Bank — a  large  institution 
whose  operations  were  among  the  most  notable  in  the  history  of  New 
I^ngland  banking — suddenly  failed,  and  "  the  shock  upon  the  public  was 
tremendous."  The  Berkshire  Bank  followed  next.  The  discovery  that 
banks  could  fail  affected  the  credit  of  all,  and  in  1809  most  of  the  country 
banks  of  New  I'^ngland  having  bills  in  circulation  stopped  payment.  "It 
would  i^robably  be  a  moderate  estimate  to  put  the  lost  in  New  England 
by  the  bank  failures  of  that  period  at  $i,000,000." 

When  the  charter  of  the  first  United  States  Bank  expired  its  notes 
were  withdrawn  and  the  notes  of  State  banks  were  issued  in  reckless  pro- 
fusion to  supply  their  place.  During  the  year  181 1  and  the  two  succeed- 
ing years  one  hundred  and  twenty  new  banks  commenced  business  in  the 
United  .States.  In  Pennsylvania  the  Eegislature  passed  an  act  authoriz- 
ing the  wholesale  creation  of  new  banks  on  the  loosest  principles,  which, 
fortunately,  was  vetoed  b\'  the  (iovernor.  The  new  banks  of  these  three 
years  added  nominall\-  about  $30,000,000  to  the  banking  capital  of  the 
country.  But  the  real  capital  of  nearly  all  of  these  new  concerns  was 
almost  purely  nominal,  as,  when  a  new  bank  was  organized,  its  stock  sub- 
scribed, and  the  first  installment  paid, stock  notes  were  taken  for  the  residue, 
which  notes  were  discounted  to  meet  all  subsecpient  calls.     As  soon  as  it 


73 

became  known  that  this  practice  was  generally  followed  the  credit  of  all 
banks  in  circulation,  save  those  whose  reputation  had  been  firmly  es- 
tablished, was  quite  swept  away  and  the  issues  of  all  except  a  comparatixely 
small  number  of  well-known  banks  began  to  depreciate.  This  increase 
of  banking  circulation  came  on  the  eve  of  the  war  with  Cireat  Britain 
during  which  period  exports  almost  ceased,  and  the  coasting  and  foreign 
trade  of  the  whole  country  was  practically  annihilated.  As  but  a  small 
portion  of  this  manufactured  capital  could  be  used  in  legitimate  mercantile 
enterprise,  considerable  sums  were  invested  in  Government  loans.  The 
demand  for  money  in  this  direction  as  the  war  progressed  became  so  great 
that  bank-notes  rapidly  multiplied.  In  New  England,  however,  the  banks 
did  not  subscribe  so  freely,  because  of  the  unpopularity  of  the  war  in  that 
section.  The  banks  of  the  interior,  as  well  as  those  of  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia and  Baltimore,  expanded  their  issues  with  inexcusable  indiscretion, 
to  call  it  by  no  harsher  name.  The  drain  upon  the  country  for  specie  for 
shipment  to  Europe  was  great,  increasing,  and  perfectly  well  known.  As 
is  always  the  case  this  drain  was  felt  first  and  with  greatest  stringency  in 
those  cities  where  the  paper  in  circulation  was  most  abundant  and  most 
discredited.  At  this  time  the  laws  of  the  New  England  States  imposed 
a  penalty  of  twenty-four  per  cent  per  annum  on  all  banks  suspending 
payment  of  their  circulating  notes.  This  regulation  forced  the  weaker 
banks  of  that  section  to  the  wall,  and  assisted  the  stronger  institutions  in 
maintaining  their  notes  in  full  credit  after  those  of  the  banks  of  other 
sections  had  become  greatly  depreciated. 

The  capture  of  Washington  in  1814  was  followed  by  the  failure  of 
nearly  all  the  banks  of  the  middle  and  southern  Stales.  All  had  been 
drained  of  their  specie.  Those  at  Washington  went  first,  ascribing  their 
failure  to  the  fact  that  they  were  plundered  by  the  P^nglish  inv'aders, 
though  they  had  little  for  the  enemy  to  take.  Those  at  Baltimore 
gave  way  next.  Then  the  si.x  banks  at  Philadelphia  suspended  specie 
payments,  and  the  next  day  those  of  New  York  followed  the  example. 
The  New  England  banks,  however,  easil)-  stood  the  pressure.  Their 
issues  of  circulating  paper  were  less,  their  individual  strength  was  greater, 
they  were  better  used  to  united  action,  and  the  local  supply  of  specie  was 
more  abundant  than  in  any  other  section  of  the  Union.  In  the  South 
and  West  the  Bank  of  Nashville  alone  maintained  specie  payment  of  its 
paper  until  August  181 5,  "the  sturdy  honesty  of  whose  directors,"  says 
Gouge,  "amidst  such  general  knaver\-,  is  no  less  praisworthy  than  it  is  re- 
markable." The  broken  banks,  though  refusing  to  redeem  their  notes, 
professed  their  desire  and  ability  to  do  so  at  an  early  day.  At  first  busi- 
ness was  not  seriously  interrupted  by  their  suspension,  for  gold  and  silver 
remained  the  standard  of  value.  Bills  of  doubtful  credit  were  compared 
with  these  and  the  ratio  of  their  depreciation  fi.xed  by  this  sound  standard. 
Bank  bills  became  a  merchantable  commodit)'  and  were  commonly 
bought  and  sold  tor  coin;  their  rate  of  discount  was  tabulated  and  regu- 
larly announced  in  the  newspapers;  they  were  even  sold  at  auction,  the 
purchaser  paying  therefor  in  specie.  Though  the  people  and  the  Gov- 
ernment were  subjected  to  considerable  loss  and  more  inconvenience  from 
the  employment  of  this  depreciated  paper,  creditors  received  their  just 
dues  and  business  calculations  could  be  made  with  reasonable  safety  so 
long  as  the  specie  .standard  was  adhered  to.      But  the  unfortunate  action 


74 

of  the  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasur}'  in  directing  that  the  depreciated 
jjaper  of  the  State  banks  should  be  recci\-ed  without  discount  in  payment 
of  loans,  customs  duties,  and  other  taxes,  changed  this  almost  in  a  mo- 
ment. The  suspended  banks  increased  their  issues,  their  depreciated 
currenc)'  became  the  standard,  coin  disappeared  or  was  bought  and  sold 
as  merchandise  at  a  premium  varying  in  different  cities  with  the  ratio  of 
debasement  of  local  bank-notes,  and  the  difficulties  of  the  Government 
and  the  business  conimunit\'  immensel}'  multiplied. 

From  1S15  to  the  resumption  of  specie  payments  in  1817,  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  was  such  as  to  place  a  direct  premium  on  rascality  in 
banking.  During  these  years,  under  the  suspension  of  the  .specie  pa\-ments, 
while  the)'  were  in  a  bankrupt  condition,  the  minor  State  banks  made 
larger  dividends  than  e\er  before.  All  res]Donsibility  for  their  issues  had 
ceased;  they  grew  rich  at  the  expense  of  the  holders  of  their  notes.  It 
is  no  wonder  the\-  opposed  a  return  to  specie  j)ayments. 

We  have  seen,  in  connection  with  the  account  gi\'en  of  the  formation  of 
the  Second  Bank  of  the  United  States,  the  part  played  by  that  bank  and  by 
the  United  States  Treasury'  in  bringing  about,  in  18  17,  a  return  to  specie 
pa\nients. 

CHAPTER    IX. 

THE    ST.ATE    r..\NKS    FROM     I816    TO     1 863. 

When  the  Second  United  States  Bank  was  created  the  various  State 
banks  continued  to  do  business  as  before.  The  Government  no  longer 
kept  its  deposits  with  them,  but  it  did  not  interfere  with  their  affairs.  Of 
course,  the  National  bank  with  its  vast  resources  oxershadowed  them ; 
still  the}'  flourished  and  multiplied  in  number.  The  first  noteworth}-  ad- 
vance in  the  system  of  State  banking  occurred  in  New  England  in  1824. 
In  Februar\-  of  that  year  an  attempt  was  made  to  induce  the  banks  of 
Boston  to  give  the  bills  of  country  banks  the  same  credit  as  the  banks  in 
the  cit}-  gave  to  the  notes  of  each  other.  If  they  were  thus  taken  it 
would  be  necssary  to  send  them  home  to  be  redeemed  unless  the 
countr\'  banks  should  choose  to  make  an  arrangement  for  their  redemp- 
tion in  Bost<jn.  It  was  final!}-  agreed  among  the  banks  (though  not  all 
of  them  came  into  the  scheme),  that  each  should  receive  at  par  in  all  pa}'- 
ments  from  its  customers  the  bills  of  all  the  banks  in  good  credit  in  the 
New  I'jigland  States,  thus  making  country  money  equal  in  value  to  Bos- 
ton lUdney,  and  saving  to  the  customers  of  the  cit\'  banks  the  tax  previ- 
ously imposed  on  them  in  the  way  of  premium  for  Boston  mone}-.  The 
bills  thus  received  were  not  to  be  kept  for  any  considerable  length  of 
time,  nor  to  be  paid  out  to  supply  the  circulation  of  the  cit\-.  Nor  was 
it  necessary  for  each  bank  to  emplo}-  messengers  to  carr}'  the  bills  home, 
for  an  agreement  was  made  that  the  .Suffolk  Bank  shoukl  do  this  busi- 
ness or  procure  their  redemption  in  such  manner  as  it  saw  fit.  The 
countr)-  bills  received  b}-  the  other  banks  in  Boston  which  were  parties 
to  the  arrangements  were  paid  o\er  daily  to  the  Suffolk  Bank,  and  each 
received  in  lieu  thereof  Boston  mone}'  at  i)ar.  The  bills  thus  received  by 
the  Suffolk  i^ank  absorbed  a  considerable  portion  of  its  capital.  To  in- 
demnif}'  it  for  exchanging  or  redeeming  the  bills  of  the  countr}' banks, 
the  allied  banks  each  lent  the  Suffolk  liank,  without  interest,  a  sum  of 
mone}'  which  was  licjd  lo  be  i-(|ui\alent  to  the   service  performed.       This 


75 

plan  of  redemption  was  known  as  the  Surrollv  Bank  s)-stcni,  and  was  ot 
obvious  benefit  to  the  piibUc  in  facilitatin<j^  the  transaction  of  business  and 
in  protectinij^  a  portion  of  the  comnuinit}-  from  a  constant  tax  and  ahnost 
every  one  from  occasional  hea\y  losses.  The  general  tendency  of  the 
arrangement  was  to  gi\e  to  each  country  bank  the  benefit  of  the  principal 
local  circulation  of  its  o\\  n  neighborhood,  and  to  direct  its  bills  home- 
ward when  the\'  had  wondered  awa\-.  The  excellence  of  the  system  is 
shown  b)'  the  fact  that  it  continued  fc^-  so  many  \-ears,  and  became  so 
widely  accepted  throughout  New  I^ngland.  It  oj^erated  as  a  check  to 
excessixe  issues  of  paper  by  any  of  the  banks  included  in  the  association, 
as  they  could  not  make  an\-  large  adcition  to  the  quantity  of  their  notes 
in  circulation  without  its  being  at  once  discovered  by  the  Suffolk  Bank. 
Discover}-  v/ould  of  course  be  followed  by  a  demand  for  increased  security 
as  a  consideration  for  continuing  the  redemption  of  the  bills  of  any  bank 
which  seemed  to  be  inclined  to  resort  to  such  a  practice.  Although 
there  was  at  first  some  opposition  to  the  Suffolk  Bank  system  it  came  into 
nearl\-  universal  use  in  New  England  as  earh'  as  1825  and  contined  in 
successful  operation  down  to  the  adoption  of  the  National  banking  sy.stem. 

The  first  com])rehensi\e  State  law  regulating  banking  was  passed  in 
Massachusetts  in  1S29.  In  1837  there  had  been  organized  in  that  State 
one  hundred  and  tliirt\-four  chartered  banks,  of  which  thirty-two  failed 
in  the  great  panic  of  that  year,  with  a  loss  of  about  thirty  per  cent  of 
their  entire  indebtedness.  From  1793  to  1836  but  ten  banks  had  failed 
in  Massachusetts.  As  a  result  of  the  revulsion  of  1837  that  State 
adopted  a  system  of  official  exammations  which  was  carefull)'  and  judici- 
ously adhered  to,  and  which  was  equally  helpful  in  maintaining  the 
soundness  and  soK'ency  of  the  banks  and  public  faith  and  confidence  in 
their  management.  A  free-banking  law  was  adopted  m  185  i,  much  like 
that  which  grew  up  in  the  State  of  New  \'ork,  but  onl\'  se\en  banks 
were  organized  under  it,  as  the  specialU' chartei'ed  banks  then  in  existence 
were  jjossessed  of  numerous  and  valuable  prixileges  not  conceded  to 
those  formed  under  the  pro\isions  of  the  general  law.  In  ( )ctober,  1865, 
all  but  one  of  the  State  banks  of  Mas.sachusetts,  sa\e  four  which  wound 
up  and  went  out  of  business,  had  re-organized  as  National  banks. 

In  New  \'ork  the  restraining  act  of  1804,  aimed  at  the  extinction  of 
unincorporated  banks,  was  followed  in  i(Si8  b)-  even  more  stringent  legis- 
lation. This  enacted  that  no  person,  association  of  persons  or  body  cor- 
porate. e.\ce])t  ^uch  bodies  corporate  as  were  expressh'  authorized  by  law, 
should  keep  any  office  for  the  purpose  of  recei\ing  deposits,  or  discount- 
ing notes  or  bills,  or  for  issuing  any  evidence  of  debt  to  be  loaned  or  put 
in  circulation  as  monc\-.  Although  many  of  the  restricti\e  features  of 
this  law  were  salutaiy  and  are  to-da\'  part  of  the  law  of  every  State,  its 
effect,  as  a  whole,  was  in  the  direction  of  a  monopoly  of  all  forms  ot 
brokerage  b\'  the  specially-chartered  banks.  The  statute  remained  in 
force  until  1837,  only  one  )-ear  before  the  adoption  of  the  free-banking 
act.  The  safety-fund  sy.stem  originated  in  New  \'ork  and  was  authorized, 
on  the  recommendation  of  (jovemor  Van  Ruren,  by  the  Act  of  April  2, 
1829,  The  distinctive  feature  of  this  s\stem  was  the  re(iuirement  that 
each  bank  operated  under  it  should  make  an  annual  contribution  of  one- 
half  of -one  per  cent  of  its  capital  to  a  common  fund  to  be  hekl  b\-  the 
Treasurer  of  the  State,  such  payments  to  be  continued  until  each 
bank   had   thus  deposited  three   per  cent  of  its  capital.     This  fund  was 


76 

to  be  used  to  redeem  tlie  circulating  notes  and  to  pay  the  other  debts  of 
any  bank,  joining  the  association,  which   might  become  insolvent.      In 
case  the  fund  should  at  any  time  become  impaired  by  payments  made 
from  it,  the  banks  were  required  to  again  make  their  annual  contributions 
until  each  had  once  more  on  deposit  three  per  cent  of  its  capital  stock. 
In  practice  the  amount  required  to  be  deposited  to  the  credit  of  the  fund 
was  found  to  be  too  small   to  afford  any  substantial  protection   or  relief. 
When,  during  the  panic  of  1837,  eleven  banks  belonging  to  the  system 
failed,  the  whole  fund  amounted  to  but  little  more  than  fi\e  per  cent  of 
their  debts  for  the  payment  of  which  it  was  pledged.       The  loss  in  this 
one  instance  to  depositors  and  bill-holders  of  these  banks  was  upward  of 
$2,500,000,  beside  the  total  lost  of  their  capital  stock  amounting  to  some 
$3,000,000  more.     The  deficiency  of  the  safety  fund  was  made  good  by 
an  issue  by  the  State  of  its  six  per  cent  bonds,  this  advance  to  be  reim- 
bursed by  future  payments  by  the  banks  into  this  fund.      But  in  the   end 
the  State  was  a  considerable  loser  by  this  transaction  as  the  whole  sum 
contributed  by  safety-fund  banks  to  that  fund  down  to  1848,  when  the 
scheme  was    finally  abandoned,    was  but    $1,876,000,  little    more    than 
seventy-five  per  cent  the  debts  of  the  eleven  insolvent  institutions.      In 
1842  the  safet3'-fund  law  was  amended  so  that  the  common  fund  became 
responsible  only  for  the  payment  of  the  circulating  notes  of  banks  failing 
thereafter,   it  being  argued  that  banks  which  enjoyed  the  exclusive  priv- 
ilege of  furnishing  a   paper  currency  should  be  required  to  contribute 
something  to  a  common  fund  to  make  that  currenc}-  safe  and  stable;  that 
a  contribution  of  a  moderate  sum  for  this  purpose  was  only  reasonable 
and  proper,  but  that  there  was  neither  propriet}'  nor  justice  in   requiring 
all   the   banks   to   contribute   to   a   general    fund    for   the  benefit  of  the 
depositors  or  other  general  creditors  of  individual  banks  ;    and  as  there 
was  no  exclusive   privilege  to  receive   deposits   or  contract  general   debts 
there  was   no  reason  why   the   special   fund   should   be  applied   to  their 
liquidatioii.     The  original  .safety-fund  system  also  operated  as  a  bar  to  the 
formation  of  new  banks,  which   led  to  many  abuses  and  the  creation  of 
much  cumbersome  machinery  for  obtaining  new  charters.     This  \\",  s  one 
strong  incentive  to  the  adoption  b\-  the  State  of  New  \'ork  of  the  free- 
banking  .system,  which  was  created   by  the  Act  of  April    13,  1838.      By 
this  system  all  the  restrictions  of  banking  privilelges  to  a  fa\ored  class 
were  abolished.     Any  number  of  persons  were  alowed  to  form  banking 
associations,  subject  only  to  the  common  restrictions  and  penalties  imposed 
by  the  general  law.      .\s  originally  enacted  the  law  provided  for  the  issue 
of  circulating  notes  to  these  bank-;  by  the  State,  upon  the  deposit  of  stocks 
of  the  State  of  New  York  and   of  the   United  States  at  par,  or  of  other 
States  at  their  market  price  in  amount  sufficient  to  make  them  equal  to  a 
five  per  cent  stock  at  par,  or  of  bonds  secured  b\-  mortgages  on  improved 
and  productive  re^d  estate  worth,  exclusive  of  the  building  thereon,  double 
the  amount  secured  by  the  mortgage,  and  bearing  interest  at  not  less  than 
si.x  per  cent.      The  issue  of  notes  to  each  bank   was  to  be  ec[ual  to  the 
amount  of  the  tleposit.      I'rom    183S  to    1843   twenty-nine  of  the  banks 
organized  on  this  plan  failed,  and  a  sale  of  the  securities  which   they  had 
deposited  realized  a  sum  sufficient  to  pay,  averaging  the  whole,  seventy- 
four  per  cent  only  of  their  outstanding  circulating  notes.     Some    paid 
nearly   in    full,   others    much    less   than    the  a\erage.       Losses   in   e\"ery 


77 

instance  occurred  only  in  the  case  of  those  banks  which  had  deposited  the 
stocks  of  States  other  than  New  \'ork.  The  Act  was  therefore  amended 
so  as  to  exckide  tlie  stocks  of  all  States  except  New  ^'ork,  and  these 
were  required  to  be  kept  equal  in  amonnt,  at  market  value,  to  a  five  per 
cent  stock  at  par.  In  1848  an  amendment  was  adopted  requirin^j  all 
stocks  deposited  to  bear  six  per  cent  intercut  and  all  bonds  seven  per  cent, 
the  mortgages  securing  the  latter  to  be  for  but  two-fifths  of  the  value  of 
the  lands  covered.  In  1849  still  another  amendatory  act  required  one- 
half  the  .securities  in  all  cases  to  consist  of  New  York  State  stock,  and 
proxided  that  all  other  securities  should  be,  or  be  made  equal  to,  six  per 
cent  stock,  to  be  received  at  not  above  par  and  at  not  more  than  their 
market  value.  The  general  policy  of  the  New  York  free-banking  system 
furnished  the  groundwork  for  the  plan  on  which  the  present  National 
banking  law  was  built  up.  In  i840the  State  of  New  York  required  its  banks 
to  redeem  their  notes  at  an  agency  to  be  established  cither  in  New  York 
City,  Albany,  or  Troy,  as  well  as  at  the  home  office.  The  redemption  at 
the  agency  was  at  a  discount  of  one-half  of  one  per  cent,  subsequently 
reduced  to  one-fourth  of  one  per  cent.  This  discount  was.  in  practice, 
divided  between  the  bank  whose  bills  were  redeemed  and  the  redemption 
agency.  Any  bank  neglecting  to  pro\ide  for  such  redemption  of  its  notes 
was  to  be  forced  to  wind  up  its  business.  The  constitution  of  this  State, 
adopted  in  1846,  prohibited  the  Legislature  from  granting  any  further 
special  charters  to  banking  corporations;  and  provided  for  formation  of 
banking  institutions  under  a  general  law.  It  also  provided  that  after 
1S50  the  stockholders  in  all  banks  issuing  circulating  notes  should  be 
responsible  for  all  the  debts  of  the  bank,  of  every  kind,  in  an  amount 
equal  to  their  stock  in  such  bank.  In  case  of  the  bank's  insoK'ency  bill- 
holders  were  preferred  to  all  other  creditors. 

In  Ohio  but  five  banks  were  authorized  before  18 16.  In  that  \-ear 
six  new  banks  were  chartered  by  an  omnibus  act  which  required  each 
new  bank,  as  well  as  such  of  the  old  ones  as  should  apply  for  an  extension 
of  charter,  to  set  apart  annualh'  for  the  use  of  the  State,  such  a  part  of 
its  earnings  as  would,  at  the  expiration  of  the  term  for  which  its  charter 
was  granted,  amount  to  one  twenty-fifth  of  its  capital.  By  a  law  passed 
in  1825  this  provision  was  so  modified  as  to  require  each  bank  to  pay  to 
the  State  two  per  cent  on  all  dividends  theretofore  paid  and  four  percent 
upon  all  such  as  should  be  thereafter  declared.  From  1816  to  1834 
thirteen  new  banks  were  authorized.  Piranches  of  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  having  been  established  at  Chillicothe  and  Cincinnati,  the 
Legislature  proceeding  upon  the  theor)-  which  then  obtained  in  Ohio  and 
other  States  that  the  State  should  participate  in  the  profits  of  the  banking 
corporations  which  it  created,  levied  a  lump  sum  or  tax  of  S 50,000  on 
each  of  these  branches  provided  they  should  remain  in  business  later 
than  September  i,  1819.  The  bank  contested  this  tax,  however,  and  in 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  obtained  a  decision  in  its  favor 
and  denying  the  right  of  the  States  to  tax  its  branches.  In  1845  the 
safety-fund  system  was  applied  to  a  State  bank  then  authorized.  A  sum 
equal  to  ten  per  cent  of  the  circulating  notes  of  the  bank  was  to  be  paid 
to  a  board  of  control,  to  be  by  it  invested  in  Ohio  State  or  United  States 
stocks,  or  in  bonds  secured  by  first  mortgages  on  real  estate  of  double 
the  value  of  the  securit)-,  to  be  deposited  in  the  State  Treasur}-.     Sixty- 


7^ 

three  branches  of  this  State  bank  were  created,  each  of  which  was 
treated  as  an  independent  institution  so  far  as  depositing  security  and 
receiving  the  interest  thereon  was  concerned.  In  case  of  the  failure 
of  any  branch  bank  its  own  funds  and  securities,  not  deposited  in  the 
safety  fund,  were  to  be  applied  to  the  redemption  of  its  circulation 
before  the  safety  fund  could  be  called  on,  thus  giving  bill-holders  a  first 
lien  on  all  its  assets.  The  safety-fund  act  was  also  applied  to  a  portion 
of  the  banks  previousl}'  existing,  and  the  same  statute  authorized  an 
independent  banking  system  which  provided  for  a  deposit  with  the  State 
Treasurer  of  United  States  or  Ohio  State  stocks,  to  the  full  amount  of  the 
circulating  notes  to  secure  their  pa\'mcnt.  A  free-banking  law,  modeled 
on  that  of  New  York,  was  passed  in  185 1,  but  the  new  Constitution, 
adopted  later  in  the  .same  year,  materially  restricted  its  operation.  The 
revenue  laws  of  Ohio,  at  this  period,  discriminated  strong!}-  against  the 
banks,  subjecting  them  to  double  and  three-fold  taxation,  as  compared 
with  other  forms  ol  property  and  investment.  In  1856  another  State 
bank  was  created  by  law,  largely  on  the  lines  of  that  of  1845,  but  with  a 
clause  attaching  a  personal  liability  to  the  ownership  of  the  stock.  Most 
of  the  banks  organized  under  the  lawof  1851  were  taxed  into  liquidation, 
and  in  i(S56  upward  of  sixt)-  banks  in  this  State  were  in  bankruptcy,  more 
or  less  complete.  In  1863  there  were  in  Ohio  fifty-si.x  banks  doing- 
business  under  its  laws,  viz:  Seven  independent  banks  with  an  aggregate 
capital  of  $350,000;  three  free  banks  with  $1,270,000;  and  the  State 
Bank  of  Ohio  with  thirty-six  branches  and  an  aggregate  capital  of  $4,054,- 
000  and  $7,246,000  circulation.  The  total  capital  of  all  the  banks  of  the 
State,  when  the  National  banking  law  went  into  effect,  was  55,674,000; 
circulation,  89,057,837;  specie,  $3,023,285. 

Karly  banks  in  Indiana  were  few.  But  two  were  chartered  prc\ious 
to  1820.  In  1834  the  State  Bank  of  Indiana  was  chartered  with  ten 
branches,  each  liable  for  the  debt  of  all  the  others.  Each  share  was  to  pay 
the  State  an  annual  tax  of  twelve  and  one-half  cents,  and  was  liable  to  all 
taxes  assessed  upon  other  forms  of  capital,  with  the  proviso  that  in  no 
event  should  taxes  on  these  shares  exceed  one  per  cent  in  the  aggregate. 
The  cash  capit.il  of  this  bank  was  largely  borrowed  at  the  East  upon  the 
credit  of  the  State,  which  not  only  took  $1,000,000  of  its  stock  directly, 
but  also  loaned  its  credit  to  indi\'idual  stockholders  to  the  extent  o' 
one-half  their  subscriptions,  taking  indixidual  bonds  secured  upon  real 
estate  at  one-half  its  value,  for  the  re-payment  of  the  sums  so  advanced. 
This  bank  paid  di\itlends  axeraging  twelve  to  fourteen  percent  annually, 
and  weathered  the  panic  of  1837  without  hxss  of  capital  or  prestige.  It 
went  into  liquidation  in  1854,  on  the  expiration  of  its  charter,  and  returned 
to  its  stockholders  nearly  double  the  par  x-alue  of  their  .stock.  The  State 
of  Indiana  received  about  83,000.000  from  its  inx-estmcnt  of  S  1 ,000,000 
in  this  insiilulion,  as  well  as  payment  in  full  of  all  sums  for  which  it 
became  surety,  in  1851  Indiana  adopted  a  new  Constitution  which  prohib- 
ited the  further  creation  of  banking  corporations  except  under  ageneral  law. 
Tlie  general  banking  act,  adopted  in  1852  in  pursuance  of  this  constitu- 
tional provision,  re(|uired  the  deposit  of  .stocks  of  that  States  orof  theCnitetl 
States  as  security  for  the  circulation  of  all  banks  formetl  thereafter.  A  new 
State  bank  chartered  in  Indiana  in  i  854,  on  the  expiration  of  the  charter  of 
the  first  State  bank,  had  a  capital  of  $6,000,000,  was  excellentK'  managed 
and  passed  through  the-  panic  of  1  i<^j  w  ithout  suspending  specie  pa\-ments. 


79 

In  Illinois  a  State  bank  was  chartered  in  1821  with  a  capital  of 
$500,000.  It  was  owned  b\'  the  State.  It  had  no  real  capital  and  was 
little,  if  any,  better  than  the  schemes  for  the  emission  of  bills  of  credit  to 
be  lent  to  all  come.'-s,  which  flourished  in  the  colonies  during  the  last 
century.  Of  its  notes  $300,000  were  issued  and  loanetl  to  citizens  of  the 
State,  not  more  than  $1,000  to  one  person,  upon  real  estate  mortgage,  for 
one  year,  at  six  per  cent  interest.  These  notes  were  made  receivable  for 
taxes  and  for  all  debts  due  the  State  and  the  bank.  They  rapidly  depre- 
ciated and  after  passing  for  a  time  at  twenty-five  cents  on  the  dollar, 
became  wholly  discredited  and  cease  to  circulate.  In  1835  anew  State 
bank  was  incorporated  with  a  capital  of  $500,000,  afterward  increased  to 
$j,ooo,ooo,  which  was  also  owned  by  the  State  and  managed  and  con- 
trolled b\-  the  Legislature.  It  suspended  specie  pa\'ments  during  the 
panic  of  1837-38  and  never  recovered  sufficiently  to  resume.  In  1843 
this  bank  and  the  old  Shawneetown  bank  in  which  the  State  had  a  con- 
trolling interest,  were  wound  up  under  a  law  passed  that  year,  which 
practically  confiscated  the  property  of  private  .stockholders,  depositors  and 
bill-holde  s.  The  State  took  possession  of  its  bonds  amounting  upward 
of  $3,000,000,  which  these  banks  held  as  securit}-  for  their  bill-holders 
and  depositors,  and  caused  the  same  to  be  burned  in  the  old  State  House 
Square  at  Springfield,  in  the  presence  of  the  Legislature.  In  1843  a  free- 
banking  law  was  adopted,  modeled  on  the  provisions  of  the  earliest  free- 
banking  acts  of  New  York  and  Indiana.  The  securities  deposited  b\'the 
free  banks  in  Illinois  were  almost  wholly  those  of  the  extreme  southern 
and  south-uestern  States,  the  \-alues  of  which  fluctuated  so  widely  and 
C(^ntinually  as  to  deprive  the  bills  secured  thereby  of  any  settled  value. 
Under  the  Constitution  of  1870  State  bankmg  ceased  in  Illinois  so  far  as 
the  creation  of  new  banks  is  concerned. 

In  nearly  all  the  southern  and  western  States  banks  were  incor- 
porated, during  the  period  under  consideration,  in  which  the  State  had  an 
interest,  partial  or  exclusive.  Free-banking  systems  were  also  generally 
adopted,  after  1850,  with  the  provisions  for  the  security  and  redemption 
of  circulating  notes,  purely  formal  and  useless  in  some  and  effective  and 
substantial  in  (Others.  The  result  in  all  the  other  States  was  like  that  in 
one  or  another  of  those  whose  experience  is  hereinbefore  epitomized. 
Indiana  and  Louisiana  managed  their  banks  with  increasing  and  conspic- 
uous prudence  and  success.  To  award  justl\-  the  palm  for  pre-eminent 
badness  would  be  a  task  as  difficult  as  unprofitable.  We  have  noticed 
the  case  of  those  States  which,  b\-  constitutional  limitation,  forbade  the 
granting  of  special  banking  charters.  Wherever  obtainable  these  special 
charters  were  in  great  demand  because  of  the  laxness  which  universalK- 
characterized  their  proxisions.  The  abuse  of  any  State  system  which  did 
not  provide  for  the  redemption  at  the  State  capital  or  other  business  center, 
of  the  bills  of  every  bank  authorized  to  do  business  within  its  limits,  was 
easy  and  inevitable.  A  common  plan  was  to  obtain  in  one  State  a  charter 
for  a  bank  to  be  located  at  some  obscure  and  inexcessible  point  where  no 
occasion  exists  for  any  legitimate  banking  facilities,  and  to  procure,  on  the 
deposit  of  doubtful  and  inadequate  security,  an  issue  of  bank  bills  which 
were  at  once  taken  to  a  distant  State  to  be  put  in  circulation  among  a 
people  having  no  means  of  procuring  redemption.  Charters  issued  in 
Georgia  were  sold  to  be  used  for  putting  a  flood  of  worthless  bank-notes 


8o 

in  circulation  in  Illinois.  Banks  ostensibly  located  in  Nev\^  Jersey  had  all 
their  business  operations  conducted  in  other  tates.  The  Snotes  of  all 
banks  except  those  located  in  large  commercial  cities,  were  always  at  a 
discount.  At  New  York  a  discount  of  one-eighth  of  one  per  cent  was 
charged  on  the  bills  of  New  England  banks  redeemable  at  the  Suflolk 
bank.  The  common  rate  of  discount  on  the  bills  of  banks  which  re- 
deemed their  currency  only  over  their  own  counters  was  from  one  to  five 
per  cent,  and  often  greatly  exceeded  that  rate.  Five  per  cent  on  the  en- 
tire circulation  of  all  the  banks  in  the  United  States  is  estimated  to  have 
been  lost  each  year  to  the  bill-holders  by  discount  and  brokerage.  Losses 
b\-  insolvency  were  much  greater.  The  losses  and  vexation  occasioned 
by  the  circulation  of  counterfeits  and  notes  of  broken  banks  was  some- 
thing incredible  to  one  accustomed  only  to  the  currency  of  to-day. 

In  1837  a  general  suspension  of  specie  payments  took  place,  occasi- 
oned by  the  revulsion  and  panic  of  that  year.  A  partial  resumption  in 
1838  was  followed  by  a  second  suspension  in  1839,  which  was  especially 
disastrous  in  the  West  and  vSouth.  The  reckless  management  of  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  then  operating  under  a  charter  from  the  State 
of  Pennsylvania,  was  the  principal  occasion  of  this  second  crash.  What- 
ever the  previous  merit  or  demerit  of  that  bank  may  have  been,  its  course 
at  this  time  was  such  as  to  justify  the  most  severe  condemnation,  as  its 
policy  was  directed  to  forcing  a  run  on,  and  suspension  of,  the  New  York- 
banks  in  order  to  bring  on  another  complete  suspension.  A  general  and 
final  resumption  of  specie  payments  was  not  effected  until  1842.  In  1857 
another  panic  caused  another  general  suspension  of  pa}-ments  by  the 
banks.  This  revulsion,  like  so  many  others  in  this  country,  was  occasi- 
oned b}-  expansion  and  overtrading.  The  first  actual  shock  was  the 
failure  of  the  Ohio  Life  and  Trust  Compan)-,  on  August  24,  1857.  This 
concern  had  borrowed  largeh',  on  call,  in  New  York  and  had  loaned  its 
funds  improxidentl}-.  Its  liabilities  were  about  S/.OOO.OOO,  and  its  credit 
had  been  so  high  that  its  failure  shook  confidence  in  other  institutions, 
A  desire  to  test  the  foundations  of  credit  followed  by  a  general  collapse. 
It  had  been  the  rule  among  banks  to  keep  on  hand  specie  to  the  amount 
one-third  of  outstanding  bills.  During  the  period  of  acti\it\-  which  pre- 
ceded 1857  this  wholesome  rule  had  been  greath'  relaxed  and  few  banks 
in  the  interior  possessed  a  specie  reserxe  exceeding  one-tweifth  the  total  of 
their  circulating  notes.  The  loss  of  the  steamer  Central  America  with  a 
million  in  gold  helped  to  create  a  momentary  stringency  in  New  York. 
Collections  on  interior  points  began  to  drag.  Failures  of  banks,  brokers 
and  produce  dealers  became  numerous,  and  on  Sejitembcr  12  and  13  the 
banks  at  nearly  all  points  south  and  we.st  of  New  York  sus|)encled  pay- 
ment. On  October  13,  1K57,  the  New  York  banks  su.spended  and  the 
New  hjigland  and  Boston  banks  followed  a  few  days  later. 

The  ])anic  forced  a  speedy  liquidation  of  all  inflated  schemes  and 
enterprises,  and,  as  the  country  was  at  the  bottom,  in  a  genuinely  pros- 
perous condition,  the  recovery  was  prompt  and  ea.sy.  Imports  stopped 
almo.st  completely,  (iold  flowecl  in  from  luirope.  The  New  Orleans 
banks,  nine  in  number,  had  suffered  least  of  all.  But  four  of  these  sus- 
pended, and  they  for  a  few  days  only.  The  New  York  banks  resumed 
in  a  body  on  December  1  2,  and  all  others  followed  gradually  and  in- 
formall}-. 


PART  II. 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY. 


ITS   HISTORY    AND   FUNCTIONS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

To  give  a  comprehensive  description  within  a  limited  space  of  the 
duties  and  procedure  cf  a  Department  so  extensive  as  the  Treasury  is  a 
task  beset  with  many  difficulties.  The  seed  that  was  planted  in  1775, 
when  the  representatives  of  the  struggling  colonies  appointed  Continental 
Treasurers,  has  been  a  striking  illustration  of  evolution  from  the  simple 
to  the  complex,  bearing  fruit  in  the  shape  of  an  immense  Department  K)f 
Finance,  which,  in  its  manifold  ramifications,  giving  employment  'to 
about  18,000  people,  embraces  every  branch  of  the  Government  service. 

The  control  and  direction  of  the  National  finances;  the  customs 
service;  the  enforcement  of  the  immigration  laws;  the  survey  oP ocean 
coasts,  lakes  and  rivers;  the  light-house  establishment;  the  supervision 
and  control  of  the  national  banks;  the  inspection  of  steam  vessels;  the 
enforcement  of  laws  and  regulations  in  relation  to  navigation;  the 
designing,  erection  and  custody  of  public  buildings;  the  mints  and  assay 
offices;  the  marine-hospital  service;  the  life-saving  service;  the  compila- 
tic^n  and  publication  of  statistics  relating  to  the  Department;  the  manu- 
facture, issue  and  redemption  of  currency;  and  the  duties  performed  by 
the  law  officers  in  the  construction  and  enforcement  of  laws,  constitute 
in  themselves  a  vast  array  of  important  and  difficult  functions.  When 
to  the  foregoing  is  added  the  examination,  revision  and  adjustment  of 
all  accounts,  not  only  of  the  Department,  but  of  every  branch  of  the 
Legislative,  Executive  and  Judicial  Establishment,  its  magnitude  and 
responsibility  may  be  better  appreciated. 

It  has  been  deemed  best,  out  of  the  wealth  of  material  that  presents 
itself  for  selection,  to  give  a  history  of  the  Department,  a  brief  state- 
ment of  the  Duties  of  each  Bureau,  with  the  addition  of  details  of  busi- 
ness methods  of  those  Bureaus  with  which  bankers  are  usually  brought 
in  contact  in  their  transactions  with  the  Government;  regulations  in 
relation  to  coin  and  paper  currency,  bonds,  drafts,  warrants,  and  checks, 
and  special  items  of  interest  relating  to  national  banks  and  depositories. 
Much  of  this  material  is  embodied  in  the  circulars  issued  by  the  Depart- 


ment,  but  is  here  arranged  in  more  convenient  manner  for  reference,  and 
being  placed  in  permanent  form,  is  less  liable  to  meet  the  fate  usually 
attendmg  circulars.  It  has  been  the  desire  and  intention  to  devote  but 
little  space  to  statistics,  which,  while  valuable  to  the  interested  few, 
make  but  dreary  reading  to  the  general  public.  In  the  stead  there  has  been 
given  detailed  statements  of  procedure  in  the  manufacture,  issue,  redemp- 
tion and  destruction  of  paper  currency,  accompanied  by  illustrations, 
which  it  is  hoped  will  prove  of  interest.  Finally,  a  few  articles  have 
been  included,  which, while  perhaps  not  strictly  germane  to  thesubject,  have 
been  the  subject-matter  of  many  inquiries  from  bankers  and  others. 

An  experience  of  many  years  devoted  to  the  receipt,  distribution 
and  answer  of  correspondence  of  an  important  bureau  has  encouraged 
the  hope  that  the  selections  of  materials  above  outlined  have  been  judicious, 
and  that  they  may  prove  not  only  entertaining,  but  of  some  lasting  benefit. 


SYNOPSIS  OF  CONTENTS. 


History 

History 

Bureaus 

I 

2 

3 

4 
5 
6 

7 
8 

9 

lO 

1 1 

12 

13 

14 
15 
i6 

17 
i8 

19 
20 
21 
22 

23 
24 


of  the  Treasury  Department. 

of  the  Treasury  Seal. 

of  the  Department,  titles  of  officers,  and  functions. 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Supervising  Architect. 

Director  of  the  Mint. 

Chief  of  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing. 

Supervising  Surgeon-General  of  Marine-Hospital  Service. 

General  Superintendent  of  the  Life-Saving  Service. 

Supervising  Inspector-General  of  Steam-Vessels. 

Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics. 

Light-House  Board. 

Superintendent  of  Immigration. 

Commissioner  of  Navigation. 

Superintendent  of  the  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey. 

Chief  of  the  Secret  Service  Division. 

Comptroller  of  the  Treasury. 

Auditor  for  the  Treasury  Department. 

Auditor  for  the  War  Department. 

Auditor  for  the  Interior  Department. 

Auditor  for  the  Navy  Department. 

Auditor  for  the  State  and  Other  Departments. 

Auditor  for  the  Post  Office  Department. 

Treasurer  of  the  United  States. 

Register  of  the  Treasury. 

Comptroller  of  the  Currency. 

Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue. 


Solicitor  of  the  Treasury  (Department  of  Justice). 
Solicitor  of  Internal  Revenue  (Department  of  Justice). 


History  of  Office  of  Treasurer  of  the  United  Siate-. 
Issue  and  Redemption  of  Currency  (Regulations). 
Issue  of  United  States  Notes. 

Treasury  Notes  of  1890. 
Silver  Certificates. 
Gold  Coin. 

Standard  Silver  Dollars. 
Subsidiary  (Fractional)  Silver  Coin. 
Minor  Coin. 
Redemplion  of  United  States  Notes. 

Treasury  Notes  of  1890. 
Silver  Certificates. 
National  Bank  Notes. 
Subsidiary  (Fractional)  Silv^er  Coin. 
Minor  Coin. 
Advertisements  on  Coins. 
Defaced  Minor  Coin. 

Registration  free  of  charge  (Currency  for  Redemption). 
Express  Charges. 
Disposition  of  Counterfeit  Money. 
Refunding  Certificates. 
Gold  Certificates. 
Currency  Certificates. 
Interest  Checks  (Regulation). 

Closing  and  Opening  of  Transfer  Books. 
Da  es  of  Dividends  and  Payment  of  Checks. 
Duplicates. 
Change  of  Address. 
Indorsements 
Transfer  Checks  (Regulations). 
Issue. 
Duplicates. 
Treasury  Drafts  and  Warrants  (Regulation.s). 
Issue. 
Duplicates. 
Indorsements. 


Gold  Coins  of  the  United  States. 

Weight,  fineness  and  alloy. 

Denomination  now  issued. 

Coinage  discontinued. 
Silver  Coins  of  the  United  States. 

Weight,  fineness  and  alloy. 

Denominations  now  issued. 

Coinage  discontinued. 
Minor  C(  ins  of  the  United  States. 

Weight  and  alloy. 

Denominations  now  issued. 

Coinage  discontinued. 


Purchase  of  Uncurrent  Gold  Coin. 

Silver  Coin. 
Mutilated  Minor  Coin. 
Light-Weight  Gold  C'  in. 
Legnl  Tender. 

Gold  Coin. 

Standard  Silver  Dollars. 

Subsidiary  Silver  Coin. 

Minor  Coin. 

United  States  Notes. 

Demand  Treasury  Notes. 

One  and  Two  Year  Notes  of  1863. 

Compound  Interest  Notes. 

Treasury  Notes  if  1890. 

Columbian  Half  Dollars. 

Columbian  Quarters. 
Not  Legal  Tender. 

Gold  Certificates. 

Silver  Certificates. 

National  Bank  Notes. 

Trade  Dollars. 

Fractional  Currency. 

Foreign  Gold  Coin. 

Foreign  Silver  Coin. 

Continental  Currency  (?) 
Legal  Tender  Cases  in  the  Supreme  Court. 
"Outstanding  Liabilities." 

Three-year-limit  for  Checks  and  Drafts. 


Government  Bonds. 

Titles  and  Amounts  of  Loans. 
Regulations. 

Redemption. 

To  Secure  Deposits. 

To  Secure  Circulation. 

Purchase. 

Transfer  and  Registry  (Assignment). 

Exchange  of  Coupon  for  Registered. 

Non-exchange  of  Registered  for  Coupon. 

Lost  Registered  Bonds. 

Lost  Coupon  Bonds,  Coupons, and  U.  S.  Notes. 

Destroyed  and  Defaced  Bonds. 

Mutilated  Coupons. 

Withdrawal  of  Bonds  to  secure  Deposits. 

Withdrawal  of  Bonds  to  secure  Circulation. 
Disbursing  ( )fficers  Checks. 

Duplicates. 

Pension  Checks,  (90  day  limit). 
Post  Office  Warrants. 

Duplicates. 


National  Banks. 

Number  in  Operation. 

The  Organization  of  a  National  Bank. 

Reserve  Cities. 

Lawful  Money  Reserve. 

Place  for  Redemption  of  Circulation. 

Additional  Reserve  Cities. 

Central  Reserve  Cities. 

List  of  Reserve  Cities. 
National  Bank  Examiners. 

Appointment,  Powers  and  Duties. 

Compensation. 
Semi-Annual  Duty  on  Circulation. 

Duty. 

Return. 

How  to  ascertain  Duty. 

"Notes  in  Circulation." 

Opinion  of  Attorney-General. 

New  Banks. 

Banks  in  Liquidation. 

Payment  of  Duty. 
Amount  Collected  from  Banks  by  Semi-Annual  Duty. 
National  Bank  Redemption  Agency. 

History. 

Duties. 

Expenses,  how  paid. 
National  Bank  Notes. 

Lost  or  Stolen. 

Manufacture  and  Issue. 

Redemption  and  Destruction. 

Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing. 
Engraving  and  Printing. 

Comptroller  of  the  Currency. 
Issue  of  Notes. 

Treasurer  of  the  United  States. 
Redemption  of  Notes. 

Comptroller  of  the  Currency. 

Redemption  of  Notes. 

Committee. 

Destruction  of  Notes. 
National  Bank  Depositaries. 

Applications  for  Designation. 

Regulations. 

Functions, 

Service  rendered  to  Government. 

Number,  and  Bonds  held. 


6 

United  States  Paper  Currency. 

Manufacture,  Issue,  Redemption,  and  Destruction. 
Secretary  (f  the  Treasury. 

Government  Paper  Mill. 

Distinctive  Paper. 
Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing. 

Engraving  and  Printing  Sheet  Cunency. 
Treasurer  of  the  United  States. 

Sealing  and  Separating  Sheet  Currency. 

I^sue  of  Notes. 

Redemption  of  Notes. 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Re-Count  of  Redeemed  Notes. 
Register  of  the  Treasury. 

Re-Count  of  Redeemed  Notes. 
Committee. 

Destruction  of  Notes  by  Maceration. 


Advice  as  to  Official  Mail. 

Annual  Reports  of  Fmancial  Officers. 

Public  Debt  Statements. 

Resumption  of  Specie  Payments. 

List  of  Sub-Treasuries,  Mints,  and  Assay  Offices. 

Exemption  of  United  States  Bonds  from  Taxation. 

Taxation  of  National  Bank  Notes  and  Treasur\'   Notes. 

United  States  Mint  Tests  for  Gold  and  Silver  Coins. 

Conscience  Fund. 

Values  of  Foreign  Coins. 

Columbian  Half  Dollars. 

("olumbian  ("Isabella")  Quarters. 

Revenues  and  Expenditures  of  Government. 

Contents  of  Vaults  in  U.  S.  Treasurer's  Office. 

Amount  of  Money  in  Circulation. 

Per  Capita  Circulation. 

Population  of  the  United  States,  (January  i,  1895). 

Methods  in  the  l^rection  of  a  Public  Building. 


Continental  Currency. 

History. 

Why  not  redeemable. 

Counterfeiting. 

Decision  of  Comptroller. 

Eegal  Tender  Qualities. 
Fessendcn  on  "  P'inance." 
The  Wiles  of  "  Green  Goods"  Men. 
P.cmiums  on  Coins,  (non  paid  by  Government). 
State  Bank  Notes,  (not  redeemed  b)'  Government). 
Confederate  Notes,  (not  redeemed  by  Government). 
Gold  Coins  Minted  by  IVivate  Parties. 
Origin  of  the  Dollar  Mark  {$). 


HISTORY   OF  THE  TREASURY  DEPARTMENT. 


GERM:  The  germ  of  the  Treasury  department  was  planted  July 
-9.  1/75  (Journals  of  Congress,  vol.  i,  p.  173)  when  by  a  resolution  of 
Congress,  the  mana<j^ement  of  the  finances  was  intrusted  to  two  Treas- 
urers. BOARD  OF  TREASURY:  By  resolution  of  February  17, 
1776  (Ibid.  vol.  2,  p.  66),  a  standing  committee  of  five  was  appointed 
for  superintending  the  Treasury  (known  as  the  Committee  on  Finance, 
or  Board  of  Treasury).  There  was  but  little  change  in  the  character  of 
the  Department  until  1779.  SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY: 
On  February  11.  1779  (Ibid.  vol.  5,  p.  51),  Congress  resolved  "That  a 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  be  appointed,"  and  on  May  29,  1779  (Ibid, 
p.  234),  Robert  Troup  was  elected  "  Secretary  to  the  Board  of  Treasury." 

On   July   30,    1779  (Ibid.  p.    301), 
Congress  agreed  to  an  "Ordinance 
for  establishing  a   board  of  treas- 
ury."    The  Board  was   to  consist 
of  five  members  as  heretofore,  but 
there  was  a    reorganization    as    to 
methods,    functions    and  personnel. 
SUPERINTENDENT     OF     FI- 
NANCE:    On  February  20,   1781 
(Ibid.  vol.  7,  p.  31),  Robert  Morris 
was  elected  by  Congress  as  Super- 
intendent of    Finance.     Congress 
vested  the  office  with  powers  simi- 
lar to  those  now  held  by   the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury  (Ibid.  p.   31 
et sequitiw).    BOARD  OF  TREAS- 
URY:     Robert     Morris,    Superin- 
tendent of   Finance,  having   signi- 
fied  his   intention    of  retiring  from 
said  office    (Ibid.   vol.    9,    p.    251) 
Congress    resolved    on     May    28, 
1784,  that  a   Board  consisting    of 
three  commissioners   be   appointed 
to  superintend   the    Treasury    and 
States,  which   shall  be  styled  The 
The  Finance  Department  of  the 


Wir.I.ARD  I'OKKSTKK   WARNKR. 


manage  the  finances   of  the  United 
Board    of  Treasury"   (Ibid.   p.    255) 

Government  was  managed  by  CommisMoners  until  1789,  when  the  Con 
gress  created  a  Treasury  Department.  TREASURY  DEPARTMENT 
ESTABLISHED:  By  the  Act  of  September  2.  1789  (i  Stat,  p.  65). 
the  Treasury  Dei^artment  was  established.  This  act  provided  for  a 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  an  Assistant  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
a  Comptroller,  an  Auditor,  a  Treasurer  and  a  Register. 


SEAL  OF  TREASURY  DEPARTMENT. 

On  September  26.  1778,  the  Continental  Congress  resolved  "That 
a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  prepare  a  seal  for  the  treasury  and 
for   the   navy ;    the   members  chosen    were   Mr.   Witherspoon,    Mr.    G. 


THE  U.   S.  TREASURY,  AVASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

South-west  (Maiii)  Front. 

Morris,  and  Mr.  R.  H.  Lee  "  (Journals  of  Congress  No.  4  p.  567).  The 
Navy  at  that  time  was  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Board  of  Admiralty, 
and  the  Treasury  under  that  of  the  Committee  on  Finance,  or  Board  of 
Treasury. 

The  said  committee  made  a  report  as  to  the  device  for  a  seal  for  the 
Navy,  but  no  record  can  be  found  of  a  report  for  the  Treasury.  A  seal, 
however,  was  adopted,  impressions  of  which  may  be  found  on  original 
papers  now  in  the  files  of  the  Office  of  the  Register  of  the  Treasury. 
Some  minor  changes  have  been  made  from  time  to  time,  but  the  seal 
adopted  was  substantially  the  same  in  device  and  legend  as  the  seal  of 
the  Treasury  Department  at  this  day. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  state  in  this  connection  that  Mr.  Edward 
Stabler,  of  Sandy  Springs,  Montgomery  County,  Maryland  (who  was 
said  to  be  one  of  the  foremost  die-sinkers  and  seal  engravers  of  that 
period)  was  commissioned  in  1849  to  make  a  fac-simile  of  the  original 
seal,  which  was  nearly  worn  out.  Mr.  Stabler  suggested  some  minor 
changes  as  improvements,  but  was  informed  that  the  design  must  be 
copied  exactly  "In  accordance  with  the  law."  Diligent  efforts  have  been 
made  by  numerous  interested  parties  to  locate  the  law  referred  to,  but 
so  far  as  1  am  informed,  without  avail. 

The  legend  on  the  Treasury  Department  Seal  is  "  Thesaur.  Amer. 
Septent.  Sigil.,"  being  an  abbreviation  of  the  Latin  sentence:     "Thesauri 


Americana  Septentrionis  Si\^illuni,"  meaning,  The  Seal  of  the  Treasury 
of  North  America.  The  inference  drawn  from  the  history  of  tliose  times 
would  be  that,  in  the  event  of  success  by  the  Colonies,  the  whole  of 
North  America  would  be  represented  by  the  symbol. 


THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  charged  by  law  with  the  manage- 
ment of  the  national  finances.  He  prepares  plans  for  the  improvement 
of  the  revenue  and  for  the  support  of  the  public  credit;  superintends  the 
collection  of  the  revenue,  and  prescribes  the  forms  of  keeping  and  render- 
ing public  accounts  and  of  making  returns;  grants  warrants  for  all 
moneys  drawn  from  the  Treasury  in  pursuance  of  appropriations  made 
by  law,  and  for  the  payment  of  moneys  into  the  Treasury;  and  annually 
submits  to  Congress  estimates  of  the  probable  revenues  and  disburse- 
ments of  the  Government.  He  also  controls  the  construction  of  public 
buildings;  the  coinage  and  printing  of  money ;  the  collection  of  statistics; 
the  administration  of  the  coast  and  geodetic  survey,  life-saving,  light- 
house, revenue-cutter,  steamboat-inspection,  and  marine-hospital  branches 
of  the  public  service,  and  furnishes  generally  such  information  as  may  be 
required  by  either  branch  of  Congress  on  all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
foregoing.     The  routine   work    of  the  Secretary's  office  is  transacted  in 

the  offices  of 
the  Supervis- 
ing Architect, 
Director  of 
the  Mint, 
Chief  of  Bu- 
reau of  En- 
graving and 
Printing,  Su- 
perx'ising  Sur- 
geon-General 
of  Marine 
H  o  s  pi  tals. 
General  Su- 
perintendent 
cifLife-Saving 
Service,  Su- 
pervising In- 
spector -  Gen- 
eral of  Steam 
Vessels,  Bu- 
reau of  Statis- 
tics, Light - 
House  Board, 
and  in  the 
following 
d  i  \'  i  s  i  o  n  s  : 


i:.\..sll    RUDM    V.MI.r      IKl-.ASrRY   IJICI'.^RTMKNT 


lO 


CAPTAIN  OF  THE  WATCH. 

MAIN    CORRIDOR   TREASURY    BUILDING. 


Book-  keep- 
ing and  War- 
ran  t.s;  Ap- 
pointments; 
C  u  s  t  o  m  s  ; 
Public  Mon- 
eys ;  Loans 
and  Currency; 
Revenue  Cut- 
ter ;  Station- 
ery, Printing, 
and  Blanks  ; 
Mails  and 
Files ;  Special 
Agents;  and 
Miscella- 
neous. 


SUPERVISING  ARCHITECT. 


This  officer  is  charged  with  the  following  duties:  The  preparation 
and  duplication  of  plans  for  public  buildings,  the  construction  of  the 
same,  and  with  the  repairs  and  preservation  of  such  buildings,  including 
marine-hospitals,  the  supply  of  heating  apparatus,  elevators,  vaults,  safes, 
locks,  etc.,  therefore. 

THE  DIRECTOR  OF  THE  MINT. 

The  Director  of  the  Mint  has  general  supervision  of  all  the  mints 
and  assay  offices  of  the  United  States.  He  prescribes  rules,  to  be 
approved  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  for  the  transaction  of  busi- 
ness at  the  mints  and  assay  offices.  He  regulates  the  distribution  of 
silver  coin  and  the  charges  to  be  collected  of  depositors.  He  receives 
for  adjustment  the  accounts  of  the  mints  and  assay  offices,  superintends 
their  expenditures  and  annual  settlements,  and  makes  special  examina- 
tion of  them 
when    deemed 


necessary.  All 
appointments, 
removals,  a  n  d 
transfers  in  iht 
mints  and  assay 
offices  are  sub- 
ject to  his  ap- 
proval. Th  f 
purchase  of  sil 
vcr  bullion  ai 
the  allotment  <  i 
its  coinage  an 
made  b  y  t  h  c 


Ki;i)i:.\ii'ii()\  DIVISION'  lU.  s    rRi;.\srKNi. 

KNUi:  I'oR  cui  ri.\(.   ki;i)i;i;.mi;d  notics  i.n   ii.m.vics. 


1 1 


CASH    ROOM. 
PREPARING    CVRRENCY    FOR    SHIPMENT    (TREASURY     DEPT.  ) 


Director,    and, 

at    his     recjuest, 

also  transfers  of 

the    moneys     in 

the     mints     and 

I'i  assay  offices, and 

|.  advances   f  r  o  m 

ippropriations 

or    the    mint 

service. 

Tests  of  the 
weight  and  fine- 
ness  of  coins 
struck  at  the 
mints  are  made 
in  the  assay  lab- 
oratory under  his  charge.  The  values  of  the  standard  coins  of  foreign 
countries  are  annually  estimated  for  custom-house  and  other  public 
purposes.  Two  annual  reports  are  prepared  by  the  Director,  one  for 
the  fiscal  year,  and  printed  in  the  Finance  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  the  other  for  the  calendar  year,  on  the  statistics  of  the  pro- 
duction of  the  precious  metals. 

CHIEF  OF  BUREAU  OF  ENGRAVING  AND  PRINTING. 

DUTIES.  The  functions  of  the  Bureau  consist  in  the  engraving 
and  printing  and  otherwise  preparing  the  United  States  currency,  certifi- 
cates of  deposit,  bonds,  national  currency,  checks,  miscellaneous  drafts 
and  warrant>^.  internal  revenue  stamp-^,  custom  stamps  and  postage  stamps. 

SUPERVISING  SURGEON-GENERAL  MARINE 
HOSPITAL  SERVICE. 
The  Supervi-ing  Sur- 
geon-General is  charged 
with  the  supervision  of 
the  marine  hospitals  and 
other  relief  stations  <^f 
the  service,and  the  care 
of  sick  and  disabled 
seamen  taken  from  the 
merchant  vessels  of  the 
United  States  (ocean, 
lake  and  river),  and  from 
the  vessels  of  the  Rev- 
enue, Marine  and  Ligh.- 
House  Services.  This 
supervision  includes  the 
purveying  of  medical 
and  other  supplies,  ihe 

assignment  Oiand  orders  SepimtinK  ami   trimminsr  I'.  S.  Notes  (received  in  sheets  of 

f/-.    t-nori;/-'il     /-.ffiz-ot-o     fU^  .1  notes  from  Unreal!  of  Kiisiraviug  and  Printing)  in  Issne  Division 

Lo    iiieuicdi   oiiicers,  ine  |-  c;  -i.^^..,,,,^^.  ,)0-,j,j. 


1  2 


examination  of  requisitions,  vouchers  and  property  returns,  and  all 
matters  pertaininq^  to  the  service.  Under  his  direction  all  applicants  for 
pilot's  licenses  are  examined  for  the  detection  of  color-blindness.  Ordin- 
ary seamen,  on  request  of  a  master  or  agent,  are  examined  physically  to 
determine  their  fitness  before  shipment,  and  a  like  examination  is  made 
of  the  candidates  for  admission  to  the  Revenue  Marine  Service  and  can- 
didates for  appointment  as  surfmen  in  the  United  States  Life-Saving 
Service.  He  examines  also  and  passes  upon  the  medical  certificates  of 
claimants  for  pensions  under  the  laws  of  the  Life-Saving  Service.  Under 
the  act  of  April  29,  1878,  he  is  charged  with  the  framing  of  regulations 
for  the  prevention  of  the  introduction  of  contagious  diseases  and  the 
prevention  of  their  spread;  and  under  the  act  of  August  i,  1888,  he  is 
charged  with  the  conduct  of  the  quarantine  service  of  the  United  States. 
He  has  the  direction  of  laboratories  established  to  investigate  the  cause 
of  contagious  diseases,  and  publishes  each  week  an  abstract  of  sanitary 
reports  received  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States  and  (through  the 
State  Department)  from  all  foreign  countries.  Under  the  law  of  March 
28,  1890,  known  as  the  Inter- 
state quarantine  law,  he  is 
charged  with  preparing  the  rules 
and  regulations,  under  direction 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
necessary  to  prevent  the  intro- 
duction of  certain  contagious 
diseases  from  one  State  to 
another,  and  he  has  also  super- 
vision of  the  medical  inspection 
of  alien  immigrants,  which  under 
the  law  of  March  3,  1891,  is 
conducted  by  the  medical  officers 
of  the  Marine   Hospital  Service. 


GENERAL  SUPERINTEN- 
DENT OF  THE  LIFE- 
SAVING  SERVICE. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  General 
Superintendent  to  supervise  the 
organization  and  government  of 
the  employes  of  the  service ;  to 
prepare  and  revise  regulations 
therefor  as  may  be  necessary ; 
to  fix  the  number  and  compen- 
sation of  surfmen  to  be  employed 
at  the  several  stations  within  the 
provisions  of  law;  to  super- 
vise the  expenditure  of  all  appro- 
priations made  for  the  support 
and    maintenance    of    the    Life- 


IIOXI)  VAII.T.   r.  S.   TKI-;.\.SIKHKS  OI'I-ICK. 

I!.ii:<ls  lu-ld  losi'cureci!  dilation  of  National  Hanks; 
to  sicuic  (Uposits  of  public  tnonc-vs  witli  National 
Hank  Depositories,  anil  to  slcuii- triist  funds  ^  Mi.scel- 
lani-ons  i. 


13 

Saving  Service  ;  to  examine  the  accounts  of  disbursements  of  the  district 
superintendents,  and  to  certify  the  same  to  the  accounting  officers  of  the 
Treasury  Department ;  to  examine  the  property  returns  of  the  keepers 
of  the  several  stations,  and  see  that  all  public  property  thereto  belonging 
is  properly  accounted  for  ;  to  acquaint  himself,  as  far  as  practicable, 
with  all  means  employed  in  foreign  countries  which  may  seem  to  advan- 
tageously affect  the  interest  of  the  service,  and  to  cause  to  be  properly 
investigated  all  plans,  devices  and  inventions  for  the  improvement  of  life- 
saving  apparatus  for  use  at  the  stations  which  may  appear  to  be  meritor- 
ious and  available;  to  exercise  supervision  over  the  selection  of  sites  for 
new  stations  the  establishment  of  which  may  be  authorized  by  law,  or 
for  old  ones  the  removal  of  which  may  be  made  necessary  by  the 
encroachment  of  the  sea  or  by  other  causes;  to  prepare  and   submit  to 

the  Secretary 
of  the  Treas- 
ury estimates 
for  the  sup- 
port o  f  t  h  e 
service  ;  t  o 
collect  and 
compile  the 
statistics  of 
marine  disas- 
ters; to  collect 
and  compile 
the  statistics 
of  marine  dis- 
asters c  o  n  - 
templated  by 
the  act  of June 
20,  1874,  and 
to  submit  to 
the  Secretary 
of  the  Treas- 
ury, for  trans- 
mission to  Congress,  an  annual  report  of  the  expenditures  of  the  mone>s 
appropriated  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Life-Saving  Service,  and  of  the 
operations  of  said  service  during  the  year. 


INTERIOR  OI'  CASH    ROOM   iTRKASlRV  DKI'ARTMi;XT). 


SUPERVISING  INSPECTOR-GENERAL  OF  STP:AM  VESSELS. 

The  .Supervising  Inspector-General  superintends  the  administration 
of  the  steamboat  inspection  laws,  presides  at  the  meeting  of  the  Board 
of  Supervising  Inspectors,  receives  all  reports,  and  examines  all  accounts 
of  inspectors.  The  Board  of  Supervising  Inspectors  meets  in  Washing- 
ton annually,  on  the  third  Wednesday  in  January,  to  establish  regulations 
for  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the  steamboat  inspection  laws. 


BUREAU  OF  STATISTICS. 

The  Chief  of  the    Bureau    of  Statistics   collects  and  publishes  the 
statistics  of  our  foreign  commerce,  embracing  tables  showing  the  imports 


14 


: 

t 

;>^^^^^^^K' 

and  exports, 
respectively, 
by  countries 
and  customs 
districts  ;  the 
transit  trade 
inwards  and 
outwards  b  y 
countries  and 
by  customs 
districts;  im- 
ported com- 
m  o  d  i  t  i  e  s 
warehoused, 
withdrawn 
from,  and  re- 
maining    in 

warehouse;  the  imports  of  merchandise  entered  for  consumption,  show- 
ing quantity,  value,  rates  of  duty,  and  amounts  of  duty  collected  on 
each  article  or  class  of  articles;  number  of  immigrants,  their  nationality, 
occupation,  etc.,  arriving  from  foreign  coun  tries,  and  the  number  of 
passengers  departing  for  foreign  countries  ;  the  inward  and  outward 
movement  in  our  foreign  trade  and  the  countries  whence  entered  and 
for  which  cleared,  distinguishing  the  nationalities  of  the  foreign  vessels; 
also  special  information  in  regard  to  our  internal  commerce.  The  publi- 
cation of  the  Bureau  are  as  follows;  Annual  Report  on  Commerce  and 
Navigation;  Annual  Report  of  Internal  Commerce;  Annual  Statistical 
Abstract  of  the  United  States;  Quarter-yearly  Reports  on  Commerce, 
Navigation  and  Immigration;  Monthly  Summary  Statements  of  Imports 
and  Exports;  Monthly  Reports  of  Exports  of  Breadstuffs,  of  Provisions, 
of  Petroleum,  and  Cotton;  Monthly  Reports  of  Total  Values  of  Foreign 
Commerce  and  Immigration. 


REDEMPTION  DIVISION  (  r.  S.  TREASURY  i. 
Cauceling  machine  punching  4  holes  (one  in  each  corner)  of  redeemed  notes 


LIGHT  HOUSE  BOARD. 


LIGHT  IIOUSI-:  ESTABLISHMENT 
1789,  it  was  pro- 
vided that  all 
expense  for  the 
support,  main 
tenance,  and  re- 
pairs of  light 
houses,  beacons, 
buoys  and  pub- 
lic piers,  erected, 
placed,  or  sunl< 
before  the  pass- 
ing of  said  Act, 
should  be  de- 
frayed out  of  the 
Treasury  of  the 
United  States, 
provided     such 


By  the  Act  of  August  7, 


^11-,    1)1\  l^lO.N    1  I 


rRl-;.\M  RV   Ol-'FICK). 


I';m])U>ye  in  charge  of  sealing  V.  S.  paper  currency  ;  4,000  notes  in  each 
package  which  is  delivered  to  the  Revenue  Vault. 


15 


lic^ht-houses,  etc.,  should  in  the  meantime  be  ceded  to  and  vested  in  the 
United  States,  by  the  State  or  States  in  which  they  were  located,  together 
with  the  lands  and  tenements  thereunto  belonging,  and  together  with 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  same.  By  this  Act  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
was  charged  with  the  preparation  of  contracts  for  all  materials  and 
supplies,  said  contracts  to  be  approved  by  the  President,  and  with  the 
fixing  of  the  compensation  of  employes,  to  be  appointed  by  the 
President. 

LIGHT-HOUSE  BOARD:  The  Light-House  Board  was  organ- 
ized by  the  Act  of  August  31,  1852,  which  required  it  to  make  a  plan 
for  the  lighting  of  the  coasts  (ocean,  lake  and  river)  of  the  United 
States. 

This  report  was  made  and  submitted  to  Congress,  by  which  it  was  in 
effect  adopted.  The  plan  provides,  in  brief,  for  lighting  the  whole  coast- 
lines of  the  United  States,  including  those  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific, 
those  of  the  lakes  and  of  the  larger  rivers.  "  The  President  shall  appoint 
two  officers  of  the  Navy,  of  high  rank,  two  officers  of  the  Corps  of 
Engineers  of  the  Army,  and  two  civilians  of  high  scientific  attainments, 

whose  services  may  be  at  the 
disposal  of  the  President,  together 
with  an  officer  of  the  Navy  and 
an  officer  of  Engineers  of  the 
Army,  as  secretaries,  who  shall 
constitute  the  Light-House 
Board  (R.  S.  Sec.  4653),  "The 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall 
be  cx-officio  president  of  the 
Light-House  Board"  (R.  S.  Sec. 
4654). 

DUTIES  OF  THE  BOARD : 
The  Light-House  Board,  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  discharges 
all  administrative  duties  relating 
to:  The  construction,  illumina- 
tion, inspection,  and  superinten- 
dence of  light-houses,  light-ves- 
sels, beacons,  buoys,  sea-marks, 
and  their  appendages,  and  embracing  the  security  of  foundation  of  works 
already  existing ;  procuring  illuminating  and  other  apparatus,  supplies 
and  materials  of  all  kinds  for  building,  and  for  rebuilding  when  neces- 
sary, and  keeping  in  good  repair  the  light-houses,  light-vessels,  beacons 
and  buoys  of  the  United  States  ;  has  charge  and  custody  of  all  the 
archives,  books,  documents,  drawings,  models,  returns,  apparatus,  and 
other  things  appertaining  to  the  Light-House  Establishment;  and  has 
charge  of  the  purchase  of  the  necessary  land  for  the  erection  of  light- 
houses, where  the  proper  site  does  not  belong  to  the  United  States,  out 
of  the  appropriations  made. 

The  Atlantic  coast-line  is  about  5,000  miles  long,  that  of  the  Pacific 
about  1,500,  that  of  the  lakes  about  3,000,  that  of  the  rivers  about  5,500 
miles,  making  a  total  of  about  15,000  miles. 


ri-:di-;mi-ti()X  i  r 


TKi-;.\.srRv 


'  counter 


'    enjiaged    in   the   redemption   of 
mutilated  currency. 


i6 
SUPERINTENDENT  OF  IMMIGRATION. 

The  Superintendent  of  Immigration  is  charged  with  the  duties, 
under  the  control  and  supervision  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  of 
enforcing  the  laws  in  relation  to  immigration.  These  laws  are  embraced 
in  the  Acts  of  March  3,  1875,  August  3,  1882,  June  26,  1884,  February 
26,  1885,  October  19,  1885,  February  23,  1887,  March  3,  1891,  and 
March  3,  1893.  The  office  of  Superintendent  of  Immigration  was 
created  by  section  7  of  the  Act  of  March  3,  1891.  All  inspection  and 
other  officers  in  the  immigration  service  are  assigned  to  duty  by  the 
Superintendent,  their  official  duties  and  conduct  are  supervised  by  him, 
and  all  correspondence  between  the  Department  and  the  officers  in  the 
immigration  service  is  conduced  by  the  Superintendent. 

Section  5  of  the  Act  of  March  3,  1893,  provides  that  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  every  inspector  of  arriving  alien  immigrants  to  detain  for  a 
special  inquiry,  under  section  i  of  the  immigration  act  of  March  3,  1891, 
every  person  who  may  not  appear  to  him  to  be  clearly  and  beyond  doubt 
entitled  to  admission,  and  all  special  inquiries  shall  be  conducted  by  not 
less  than  four  officials  acting  as  inspectors,  to  be  designated  in  writing 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  or  the  Superintendent  of  Immigration, 
for  conducting  special  inquiries,  and  no  immigrant  shall  be  admitted 
upon  special  inquiry  except  after  a  favorable  decision  made  by  at  least 
three  of  said  inspectors,  and  any  decision  to  admit  shall  be  subject  to 
appeal  by  any  dissenting  inspector  to  the  Superintendent  of  Immigration, 
whose  action  shall  be  subject  to  review  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
as  provided  in  section  8  of  said  immigration  act  of  March  3,  1891. 
When  an  appeal  is  thus  taken  to  the  Superintendent  of  Immigration  he 
will  prepare  and  sign  his  decision  in  the  case,  and  submit  the  same  to 
the  Secretary,  who  will  indicate  thereon  with  his  signature  his  approval 
or  disapproval.  If  the  decision  is  approved  it  will  be  promulgated  as 
written;    if  disapproved  it  will  be  promulgated  as  revised. 

Immigration  inspectors  under  the  alien  contract-labor  laws  are 
required,  in  connection  with  their  regular  duties,  to  render  all  assistance 
in  their  power  to  the  enforcement  of  the  United  States  customs  laws,  and 
to  this  end,  whenever  circumstances  render  this  course  practicable,  they 
are  subject  to  the  immediate  authority  of  the  respective  collectors  of 
customs  in  the  districts  to  which  they  are  assigned. 

THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  NAVIGATION. 

The  Commissioner  of  Navigation  is  charged  with  general  superin- 
tcndcndcnce  of  the  commercial  marine  and  merchant  seamen  of  the 
United  States,  except  so  far  as  supervision  is  lodged  with  other  officers 
of  the  Government.  He  is  specially  charged  with  the  decision  of  all 
(|uestions  relating  to  the  issue  of  re^^isters,  enrollments,  and  licenses  of 
vessels  and  the  filling  of  those  documents,  with  the  supervision  of  laws 
relating  to  the  admeasurement,  letters  and  numbers  of  vessels,  and  with 
the  final  decision  of  (|uestions  concerning  the  collection  and  refund  of 
tonnage  taxes.  He  is  emjiowered  to  change  the  names  of  vessels,  pre- 
pares annually  a  list  of  vessels  in  the  United  States,  and  reports  annually 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  the  operations  of  the  laws  relative  to 
navi<ration. 


17 

TIIK  SUPERINTENDENT    OF  THE  COAST  AND 
GEODETIC  SURVEY. 

The  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey  is  charged  with  the  survey  of  the 
Atlantic.  Gulf,  and   Pacific  coasts  of  the   United    States,  including  the 
coasts  of  Alaska;  the  survey  of  rivers  to  the   head  of  tide-water  or  ship 
navigation;  deep-sea  soundings,   temperature  and  current    observations 
along  the  said  coasts  and  throughout  the  Gulf  Stream  and  Japan  Stream 
flowing    off  from    them;   magnetic    observations    and  gravity  research; 
determinations  of  heights  by  geodetic  leveling,  and  of  geographical  posi- 
tions by  lines  of  trans-continental  triangulation,  which,  with  other  connect- 
ing triangulations  and  obser- 
vations for  latitude,  longitude, 
and  azimuth,  furnish  points  of 
reference  for  State  surveys  and 
connect  the  work  on  the  Atlan- 
tic   coast    with    that    on    the 
Pacific.    Results  of  the  survey 
are  published    in  the   form  of 
annual  reports,  which  include 
professional   papers  of  value; 
bulletins  which  give   informa- 
tion    deemed     important    for 
immediatepublicaticn;  notices 
to  mariners,  issued  monthly; 
tide    tables,   issued    annually; 
charts     upon   various    scales, 
including  harbor  charts,  gen- 
eral  charts  of  the   coast,  and 
sailingcharts;  chart  catalogues 
and  Coast  Pilots. 


J.  A.  thatchicr. 

Prksiuent  Dk.nvkr  Xatidnai.  Hank.   Dknvkr.  Co 


SECRET  SERVICE 
DIVISION. 

This  Division  is  charged 
with  the  following  duties: 
The  suppression  of  counter- 
feiting the  obligations  and 
coins  of  the  Government ;  the 
suppression  of  the  production 
or  sale  of  all  articles  in  imitation  of  the  obligations  or  coins  of  the  Gov- 
ernment; investigation  of  all  suspected  fraudulent  claims  of  back  pay  and 
bounty  for  the  Auditor  for  the  War  Department;  investigation  of  all 
suspected  fraudulent  or  excessive  claims  for  reimbursement  of  expenses 
incurred  in  last  sickness  and  burial  of  pensioners  for  the  Auditor  for  the 
interior  Department;  investigating  alleged  frauds  in  seamen's  back  pay, 
bounty,  and  prize  money  for  the  Auditor  for  the  Navy  Department,  and 
miscellaneous  work  relating  to  robbery  and  embezzlement  of  public 
funds. 


i8 

THE  COMPTROLLER  OE  THE  TREASURY. 

The  Act  of  July  31,  1894,  reorganizing  the  accounting  offices  of  the 
Government,  abolished  the  office  of  Second  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury 
and  the  Commissioner  of  Customs,  and  provided  that  hereafter  the  First 
Comptroller  shall  be  known  as  the  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury.  The 
Comptroller  is  not  charged  with  the  duty  of  revising  accounts,  except 
upon  appeal  from  the  settlements  made  by  the  Auditors,  an  apptal  to  be 
taken  within  one  year  by  either  the  claimant,  the  head  of  the  Department 
interested,  or  by  the  Comptroller  himself.  Upon  the  request  of  a  dis- 
bursing officer,  or  the  head  of  a  Department,  the  Comptroller  is  required 
to  give  his  decision  upon  the  validity  of  a  payment  to  be  made,  which 
decision,  when  rendered,  shall  govern  the  Auditors  ar.d  the  Compti oiler 
in  the  settle-ment  of  the  account  involving  payment;  to  approve,  disap- 
prove, or  modify  all  decisions  made  by  the  Auditois  making  an  original 
construction,  or  modifying  an  existing  construction  of  statutes,  and  to 
certify  his  action  to  the  Auditor.  He  shall  transmit  all  decisions  made 
by  him  forthwith  to  the  Auditor  or  Auditors  whose  duties  are  affected 
thereby.  By  the  regulations  of  the  Department  the  Comptroller  passes 
upon  the  sufficiency  of  authorities  to  indorse  drafts  and  receive  and  le- 
ceipt  for  money  from  the  Government,  upon  the  evidence  presented  in 
applications  for  duplicates  or  lost  or  destroyed  United  States  bonds, 
drafts,  checks,  etc.  The  forms  of  keeping  and  rendering  all  public  ac- 
counts (except  those  relating  to  the  postal  service),  the  recovery  of  debts 
certified  by  the  Auditors  to  be  due  the  United  States,  and  the  preseiva- 
tion,  with  their  vouchers  and  certificates,  of  accounts  finally  adjusted, 
are  under  the  direction  of  the  Comptroller.  Upon  revision  of  accounts, 
appealed  from  the  several  Auditors  to  the  Comptroller,  his  decision  upon 
such  revision  is  final  and  conclusix  e  upon  the  executive  branch  of  the 
Government. 

AUDITOR  FOR  THE  TREASURY  DEPARTMENT. 

The  Auditt)r  for  the  Treasury  Department  receives  and  examines 
all  accounts  of  salaries  and  incidental  expenses  of  the  office  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  and  all  bureaus  and  offices  under  his  direction. 
All  accounts  relating  to  the  customs  service,  public  debt,  internal  revenue. 
Treasurer  and  Assistant  Treasurers,  mints  and  assay  offices,  Bureau  of 
lingraving  and  Printing,  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  Revenue-Cutter 
Service,  Life  Saving  Service,  Light  House  Board,  Marine  Hospital, 
Public  Buildings,  Steam-boat-inspection  Service,  Immigration  Service, 
Bureau  of  Navigati<  n.  Secret  Service,  Alaskan  Fur- Seal  P'lsheries,  and 
all  other  business  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Department  of  the 
Treasury,  and  certifies  the  balances  arising  thereon  to  the  Division  of 
Bookkeeping  and  Warrants. 

AUDITORS  FOR  THE  WAR  DEPARTMENT. 

The  Auditor  for  the  War  Department  receives  and  examines  all 
accounts  of  salaries  and  incidental  expenses  of  the  office  of  the  Secretary 
of  War  and  all   bureaus   and   offices   under   his   direction,  all  accounts 


19 

relating  to  the  military  establishment,  armories  and  arsenals,  national 
cemeteries,  fortifications,  public  buildings  and  grounds  under  the  Ciuef  of 
Engineers,  rivers  and  harbors,  the  Military  Academy,  and  to  all  other 
business  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Department  of  War,  and  certifies 
the  balances  arising  thereon  to  the  Division  of  Bookkeeping  and  War- 
rants, and  sends  a  coj^y  of  each  certificate  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  This 
office  is  not  located  in  the  Treasury  Department,  but  in  the  "  Winder 
Building"  near  the  W'ar  Department  as  a  matter  of  convenience. 

THE  AUDITOR  FOR  THE  INTERIOR  DEPARTMENT. 


CH.\RIJ'.S  \V.\RREN. 
C.AsniKR  .\.mi;kican  Natio.vai.  Bank,  I.Dfisvii.i.i:,  Kv. 


The  Auditor  for  the 
Interior  Department 
shall  receive  and 
examine  all  accounts 
of  salaries  and  inci- 
dental expenses  of  the 
office  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior, 
and  of  all  bureaus  and 
offices  under  his  direc- 
tion, and  all  accounts 
relating  to  Army  and 
Navy  pensions.  Geo- 
logical Survey,  public 
lands,  Indians,  Archi- 
tect of  the  Capitol, 
patents,  census,  and  to 
a  1 1  other  business 
within  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Department  of 
the  Interior,  and  cer- 
tify the  balances  aris- 
ing thereon  to  the 
Division  of  Bookkeep- 
ing and  Warrants,  and 
send  fo'thwith  a  copy 
of  each  certificate  to 
the  Secretary  of  the 
In'erior  " 


THE  AUDirOR  FOR  THE  NAVY  DEPARTMENT. 

The  Auditor  for  the  Navy  Department  examines  and  settles  all 
accounts  of  the  Navy  Department,  including  the  office  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  and  all  offices  and  bureaus  under  his  direction,  certifying 
the  balances  arising  thereon  tn  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  (Division 
of  Bookkeeping  and  Warrants),  .^ending  a  copy  of  each  certificate  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Nav)-. 


20 

THE  AUDITOR  FOR  THE  STATE  AND 
OTHER  DEPARTMENTS. 

The  Auditor  for  the  State  and  other  Departments  receives,  exam- 
ines and  certifies  the  balances  arising  thereon  to  the  Division  of  Book- 
keeping and  Warrants  all  accounts  of  salaries  and  incidental  expenses  of 
the  offices  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  Attorney-General,  and  the  Sec- 
retary of  Agriculture,  and  of  all  bureaus  and  offices  under  their  direc- 
tion; all  accounts  relating  to  all  other  business  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Department  of  State,  Justice  and  Agriculture;  all  accounts  relating 
to  the  diplomatic  and  consular  service,  the  judiciary.  United  States 
courts,  judgments  of  the  United  States  courts.  Executive  Office,  Civil 
Service  Commission,  Interstate  Commerce  Conmiission,  Depaitment  of 
Labor,  District  of  Columbia,  Fi.>-h  Commission,  Court  of  Claims  and  its 
judgments,  Smithsonian  Institution,  Territorial  governments,  the  Senate, 
the  House  of  Representatives,  the  Public  Printer,  Library  of  Congress, 
Botanic  Garden,  and  accounts  of  all  boards,  commissions,  and  establish- 
ments of  the  Government  not  wiihin  the  jurisdiction  of  any  of  the  Exec- 
utive Departments.  He  also  examines  and  approves  or  disapproves  all 
requisitions  for  advances  of  money  made  by  all  persons  authorized  to  do 
so  in  any  of  the  above-named  Departments,  commissions  or  establish- 
ments. 

THE  AUDITOR  FOR  THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT. 

The  Auditor  for  the  Post-Office  Department  examines  and  adjusts 
all  accounts  relating  to  the  postal  service,  and  his  decisions  on  these  are 
final,  unless  an  appeal  be  taken  in  twelve  months  to  the  Comptroller. 
He  superintends  the  collection  of  all  debts  due  the  United  States  for  the 
service  of  the  Post-Office  Department,  and  all  penalties  imposed;  directs 
suits  and  all  legal  proceedings  in  civil  actions,  and  takes  all  legal  means 
to  enforce  the  payment  of  money  due  the  United  States  for  the  service 
of  the  Post-Office  Department.  This  office  is  not  located  in  the  Treasury 
Department,  but  in  the  Post-Ofiice  Department,  as  a  matter  of  con- 
venience. 

THE  TREASURER  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  Treasurer  of  the  United  States  is  cliargcd  with  the  receipt  and 
disbursement  of  all  public  moneys  that  may  be  deposited  in  the  Treasury 
at  Washington  and  the  sub-treasuries  at  Boston,  New  York,Philadtrli)hia, 
Baltimore,  New  Orleans,  San  Francisco,  St.  Louis,  Chicago  and  Cin- 
cinnati, and  in  the  national-bank  United  States  depositaries;  is  trustee 
for  bonds  held  to  .secure  national-bank  circulation  and  public  deposits 
in  national  banks;  is  custodian  of  Indian  trust-fund  bonds;  is  agent  for 
])<iying  the  interest  on  the  public  debt,  and  ex-officio  commissioner  of 
the  sinking  fund  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  Treasury  sub-divi- 
sions are: 

CHIEF"  CLl^RK — Receives  and  distributes  the  official  mail;  has 
charge  of  the  correspondence  and  the   disposition   and  payment   of  the 


21 


clerical  force,  and  the  custody  of  the  records  and  files ;  and  the  issue  of 
duplicate  checks  and  drafts. 

CASH    DIX'ISION — For  receipt  and  payment   of  public   funds   at 
Washington. 

ISSUE   DIVISION — Completion  of  new  United  States  notes,  gold 
and  silver  certificates,  and  count  of  silver,  gold  and  minor  coin. 

REDEMPTION  DIMSION— All  currency  except  national-bank 
notes  received  and  redeemed. 

LOAN  DIX^ISION — Interest  checks  prepared  and  bonds  redeemed. 
ACCOUNTS   DIVISION— The  accounts  of  the  Treasury,  the  sub- 
treasuries,  and  the  United  States  national-bank  depositaries  are  kept. 

NATIONAL  BANK 
DIVISION— Has  custody 
of  bonds  held  for  national 
bank  circulation,  for  public 
deposits,  and  various  public 
trusts,  and  makes  collec- 
tion of  semi-annual  duty. 

«»&^-   '^■■k  NATIONAL     BANK 

«»»ft<r  *^v^  REDEMPTION     AGEN- 

CY —  Notes  of  national 
banks  are  redeemed  and 
accounted  for. 

THE      REGISTER      OF 
THE  TREASURY. 


The  Register  of  the 
Treasury  signs  and  issues 
all  bonds  and  sends  to  the 
Treasurer  of  the  United 
States  schedules  .showing 
the  names  of  persons  en- 
titled to  receive  interest 
thereon.  He  examines  and 
registers  redeemed  bonds, 
paid  interest  coupons,  inter- 
cut checks  and  interest 
bearing  notes,  legal  tenders 
and  fractional  currency. 


Prksidk.nt  Statk  Savi.vc.s  Bank.  Dktroit.  Mich. 


THE  COMPTROLLER  OF  THE  CURRENCY. 

The  Comptroller  of  the  Currency  has,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  control  of  the  national  banks.  The 
divisions  of  this  Bureau  are: 

ORGANIZATION  DIXTSIOX- The  organization  of  national 
banks. 

ISSUE  DIVISION — The  prejjaration  and  issue  of  national-bank 
circulation. 


22 

REPORTS  DIVISION — Examination  and  consolidation  of  the 
report  of  national  banks. 

REDEMPTION  DIVISION — The  redemption  and  destruction  of 
notes  issued  by  national  banks. 

THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  INTERNAL  REVENUE. 

The  Commissioner  makes  assessment  of.  and  has  general  superin- 
tendence of  the  collection  of  all  internal  revenue  taxes;  employment  of 
internal  revenue  agents;  compensation  and  duties  of  gaugers,  store- 
keepers, and  other  subordinate  officers;  the  preparation  and  distribution 
of  stamps,  instructions,  regulations,  forms,  blanks,  hydrometers,  station- 
ery, etc.;  and  analysis  of  foods  and  drugs  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  payment  of  bounty  on  sugar. 

THE  SOLICITOR. 

The  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury  takes  cognizance  of  all  frauds  or 
attempted  frauds  on  the  customs  revenue.  He  is  charged  by  law  with 
duties  regarding  the  compromise  of  debts  and  with  a  supervision  over  suits 
for  the  collection  of  moneys  due  the  United  States,  excepting  those  due 
under  internal  revenue  laws.  His  approval  is  required  of  official  bonds 
of  United  States  Assistant  Treasurers,  Department  disbursing  clerks, 
collectors  of  internal  revenue,  the  Secretary  and  the  Chief  Clerk  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture.  As  the  law  officer  of  the  Treasury 
Department  many  matters  are  referred  to  him  for  his  examination  and 
opinion  arising  under  the  customs,  navigation,  banking,  and  registry 
laws,  and  in  the  administration  of  the  Department.  He  is  also  charged 
by  law  with  the  supervision  of  suits  and  proceedings  aiisirg  out  of  the 
provisions  of  law  governing  national  banking  associations  in  which  the 
United  States  and  any  of  its  agents  or  officers  are  parties  ;  ;.lso.  with  the 
charge,  release,  and  sale  of  lands  acquired  in  payment  of  debt,  excepting 
those  acquired  under  internal  revenue  laws. 

(NOTE : — The  Solicitor  of  the  Treasury  is  not  an  officer  of  the 
Treasury  Department,  but  of  the  Department  of  Justice.  As  his 
functions  pertain  to  the  Treasury  Department  the  office  is  located  there- 
in as  a  matter  of  convenience.) 

SOLICITOR  OF  INTERNAL  REVENUE. 

The  Act  of  July  13,  1866,  ([4  Stat.,  p.  170),  created  the  office  of 
Solicitor  of  Internal  Revenue,  as  a  part  of  the  corps  of  the  Internal 
Revenue  Office,  but  by  the  Act  of  June  22,  1870,  (16  Stat,  p.  162), 
organizing  the  Department  of  Justice,  the  Solicitor  was  formally  tras- 
ferred  to  that  Department.  Although  an  officer  of  the  Department  of 
Justice  his  office  is  located  in  the  Treasury  Department,  as  a  matter  of 
convenience,  his  duties  being  intimately  connected,  as  the  title  indicates, 
witii  I  he  office  of  the  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue. 

DUTIES  OF  THE  SOLICITOR  :— He  is  the  law  officer  and  law 
adviser  of  the  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue.      He  is  charged  with 


23 

duties  of  a  miscellaneous  nature  involving  advice  upon  points  of  law, 
but  his  principal  functions,  as  defined  by  law,  are  in  connection  with 
comprise  cases,  as  follows  :  "  The  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue, 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  may 
compromise  any  civil  or  criminal  case  arising  under  the  internal  revenue 
laws  instead  of  commencing  suit  thereon  ;  and,  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  said  Secretary  and  the  recommendation  of  the  Attorney- 
General,  he  may  compromise  any  such  case  after  a  suit  thereon 
has     been     commenced.       Whenever     a     compromise      is     made     in 

any  case  there  shall 
be  placed  on  file  in 
the  ofifice  of  the 
Commissioner  the 
opinion  of  the 
Solicitor  of  Inter- 
nal Revenue,  or 
of  the  officer  act- 
ing as  such,  with 
his  reasons  there- 
for with  a  state- 
ment of  the 
amount  of  tax  as- 
sessed, the  amount 
of  additional  tax 
or  penalty  imposed 
by  law  in  conse- 
quence of  the  neg- 
lect ordelinquency 
of  the  pers  o  n 
against  whom  the 
tax  is  assessed,and 
the  amount  act- 
ually paid  in  ac- 
cordance with  the 
terms  of  the  com- 
promise." (Re- 
vised Statute,  Sec- 
.\.  c.  joBEs.  tion  3229). 

Cashikk  Kansas  National  Bank.  Wiciiit.\.  Kans.\s. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  OFFICE  OF    TREASURER  OF  THE 
UNITED    STATES. 

JOINT  TREASURERS  (CONTINENTAL).  Under  date  of 
July  29,  1775,  (Journals  of  Congress,  vol.  r,  p.  173),  it  was  resolved 
"That  Michael  Hillegas  and  George  Clymer,  Esqrs.,  ht  Joint  Treasjircrs 
of  the  United  Colonies.  By  the  same  resolution  (Ibid.,  p.  174),  they 
were  styled  Continental  Treasunrs.  CONTINENTAL  TREASU  Rl^R  : 
Under  date  of  August  6,  1776.  (Ibid.,  vol.  2,  p.  299),  it  was  lesolved 
that  for  future  there  be  only  one  Continental  Treasurer,  Mr.  G.  Clymer. 


24 

one  of  the  joint  Treasurers,  being  appointed  a  delegate  to  Congress  by 
the  Convention  of  Pennsylvania.  TREASURER  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES:  By  the  resolution  of  September  6,  1777,  (Ibid.,  vol.  3,  p.  301), 
additional  compensation  was  "allowed  to  Michael  Hillegas,  Esq., 
Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  from  the  6th  day  of  August,  1776,  when 
Mr.  Clymer  resigned  the  office  of  joint  Treasurer."  On  March  22, 
1785,  (Ibid.,  vol.  10,  p.  96),  mention  is  made  of  Michael  Hillegas, 
Esquire,  Continental  Treasurer!' 

Mr.  Hillegas  held  the  office  of  Treasurer  continuously  from  July  29, 
1775,  to  September  11,  1789.  The  first  entry  to  be  found  on  the 
records  in  the  office  of  the  Register  of  the  Treasury  is  under  date  of 
April  16,  1776,  (see  "Waste-Book).  The  last  entry  on  the  original 
ledger  accounts,  also  in  the  Office  of  the  Register,  prior  to  the  date  of 
the  commission  of  Mr.  Meredith,  is  under  date  of  August  28,  1789. 

TREASURY  DEPARTMENT  ESTABLISHED.  —  THE 
TREASURER— By  the  act  of  September  2,  1789,  ([  Stat,  p.  65).  the 
Treasury  Department  was  established.  It  was  provided  that,  among 
other  officers,  there  should  be  a  Treasurer.  The  first  incumbent  under 
said  act  was  Samuel  Meredith,  whose  commission  bore  the  date  of 
September  1 1,  1789,  (see  U.  S.  Treasury  Register). 

ISSUE  AND  REDEMPTION  OF  CURRENCY. 

(Based  upon  Treasury  Department  circular  No.  162  of  Novem- 
ber I,  1894). 

The  following  regulations  govern  the  issue,  redemption,  and  ex- 
change of  the  paper  currency  and  the  gold,  silver,  and  minor  coins  of 
the  United  States  and  the  redemption  of  national  bank  notes  by  the 
Treasurer  of  the  United  States  : 

ISSUE  OF  UNITED  STATES  PAPER  CURRENCY.  The 
Treasurer  will  forward  new  United  States  notes.  Treasury  notes  of  1890, 
or  silver  certificates,  by  express,  at  the  expense  of  the  consignee,  at 
Government  contract  rates,  or  by  registered  mail,  registration  free,  at 
the  risk  of  the  consignee,  in  return  for  such  notes  or  certificates  unfit 
for  circulation,  national  bank  notes,  fractional  silver  coin,  or  minor  coin, 
received  for  redemption. 

Silver  certificates  are  issued  by  the  Treasurer  or  Assistant  Treasurers 
upon  a  dejiosit  of  standard  silver  dollars. 

ISSUE  OF  GOLD  COIN.  Gold  coin  is  issued  in  redemption  of 
United  States  notes,  in  sums  not  less  than  ^50,  by  the  Assistant  Treas- 
urers in  New  York  and  San  Francisco,  and  in  redemption  of  Treasury 
notes  of  1890,  in  like  sums,  by  the  Treasurer  and  all  the  Assistant 
Treasurers. 

ISSUE  OF  STANDARD  SIL\1:R  DOLLARS.  Standard 
silver  dollars  are  issued  by  the  Treasurer  and  Assistant  Treasurers  in 
redemption  of  silver  certificates  and  Treasury  notes  of  1890.  and  are 
sent  by  express,  at  the  expense  of  the  Government,  in  sums  or  multiples 
of  $500,  for  silver  certificates  or  Treasury  notes  of  1890  deposited  with 
the  Treasurer  or  any  Assistant  Treasurer. 


25 

ISSUE  OF  FRACTIONAL  SILVER  COIN.  Upon  the  deposit 
of  an  equivalent  sum  in  United  States  currency  or  national  bank  notes 
with  the  Treasurer  or  any  Assistant  Treasurer  or  national  bank  deposi- 
tary, fractional  silver  coin  will  be  paid  in  any  amount  by  the  Treasurer 
or  Assistant  Treasurers  in  the  cities  where  their  several  officers  are,  or 
will  be  sent  by  express,  in  sums  of  $200  or  more,  at  the  expense  of  the 
Government,  or  by  registered  mail,  at  the  risk  of  the  consignee,  in 
packages  of  ;^50,  registration  free,  from  the  most  convenient  Treasury 
office,  to  the  order  of  the  depositor.  For  this  purpose  drafts  may  be 
sent  to  the  Treasurer  or  the  Assistant  Treasurer  in  New  York,  payable 
in  their  re-pective  cities  to  the  order  of  the  officer  to  whom  sent. 

ISSUE  OF  MINOR  COIN.       Minor    coin    is    issued    under   the 

following  regu- 
1  itions  of  the 
Director  of  the 
Mint: 

Fi  ve - c  en  t 
nickel  and  one- 
c  e  n  t  bronze 
pieces  will  be 
furnished  in  the 
order  of  appli- 
cation from  the 
United  States 
Mint  at  Phila- 
delphia, Pa.,  to 
points  reached 
by  the  United 
States  and  con- 
necting express 
companies,  free 
o  f  transporta- 
tion charges,  in 
sums  of  $20,  or 
multiples  there- 
of, except  New 
York,  Boston, 
Baltimore,Phil- 
adelphia,  Cin- 
cinnati, Chica- 
go, St.  Louis, 
New     Orleans, 

and  San  Francisco,  upon  receipt  and  collection  by  the  Superintendent  of 
that  Mint  of  a  draft  on  New  York  or  Philadelphia  payable  to  his  order. 
To  points  not  reached  by  express  companies,  delivery  under  contract 
with  the  Government  being  impracticable,  these  coins  will  be  sent  by 
registered  mail  at  applicant's  risk,  registry  fee  to  be  paid  by  the  Govern- 
ment. 

A   supply   of  these   coins   will    be   kept  on   hand  by  the  Assistant 


J.\S.   W.   HNOMSH, 
■:nt  .^miikic.x.v  TRfST  &  Banki.vc,  Co.,  Ati..\nt.\.  C.a. 


26 

Treasurers  of  the  United  States  at  New  York,  Boston,  Pliiladelphia, 
Baltimore,  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans  and  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  application  for  them  should  be  made  to  the  sub-treasuries. 

Minor  coin  is  not  forwarded  by  express  to  applicants  by  the 
Treasurer  or  Assistant  Treasurers,  nor  is  it  forwarded  by  the  mint  at 
Philadelphia  to  applicants  in  cities  where  there  are  sub-treasuries. 

The  Treasurer  and  Assistant  Treasurers  will  pay  out  for  lawful 
money  any  minor  coin  not  needed  in  the  current  business  of  their  offices, 
but  in  no  case  should  drafts  be  sent  to  them  for  it. 

ISSUE  OF  THE  TREASURER'S  TRANSFER  CHECKS. 
Subject  to  the  convenience  of  the  Treasury,  and  provided  that  the  express 
charges  on  remittances  have  been  prepaid,  the  Treasurer  will  issue 
transfer  checks  on  the  Assistant  Treasurers,  payable  to  the  order  of  the 
sender  or  his  correspondent,  for  United  States  notes  and  Treasury  notes 
of  1890  unfit  for  circulation  or  national  bank  notes  sent  to  Treasurer 
for  redemption,  or  for  fractional  silver  coin  or  minor  coin  sent  in 
multiples  of  $20  to  the  Treasurer  or  Assistant  Treasurer,  but  not  for 
silver  certificates  sent  for  redemption. 

REDEMPTION  OF  PAPER  CURRENCY. 

BY  TREASURER  A\D  ASSISTANT  TREASURERS. 
United  States  notes,  fractional  currency  notes,  gold  certificates,  silver 
certificates,  and  Treasury  notes  of  1890,  are  redeemable  by  the  Treas- 
urer, and  when  not  mutilated  so  that  le-is  than  three-fifths  of  the  original 
proportions  remains,  by  the  several  Assistant  Treasurers,  at  face   value. 

UNITP2D  STATES  NOTES  are  redeemable  in  coin,  in  sums  not 
less  than  $$0,  by  the  Assistant  Treasurers  in  New  York  and  San 
Francisco. 

TREASURY  NOTES  OF  1890  are  redeemable  in  coin,  in  sums 
not  less  than  $50,  by  the  Treasurer  and  all  the  Assistant  Treasurers. 

SILVER  Ct^RTIF"ICATES  are  redeemable  in  standard  silver 
dollars  only,  or  exchangeable  for  other  silver  certificates. 

NATIONAL  BANK  NOTES  are  redeemab'e  in  lawful  money  of 
the  United  States  by  the  Treasurer,  but  not  by  the  Assistant  Treasurers. 

LESS  THAN  THREE-FIFTHS  OF  NOTES.  United  States 
notes,  fractional  currency  notes,  gold  certificates,  silver  certificates. 
Treasury  notes  of  1890,  and  national  bank  notes,  when  mutilated  so  that 
less  than  three-fifths,  but  clearly  more  than  two-fifth-,  of  the  original 
proportions  remains,  are  redeemable  by  the  Treasurer  only,  at  one-half 
the  face  value  of  the  whole  note  or  certificate.  Fragments  not  clearly 
more  than  two-fifths  are  not  redeemed,  unless  accompanied  by  the  evi- 
dence required  in  the  following  paragraph  : 

A I-'M DAVITS.  I^Vagments  less  than  three-fifths  are  redecmfd  at 
the  face  value  of  the  whole  note  wlien  accompanied  by  an  affidavit  of 
the  owner  or  other  persons  having  knowledge  of  the  facts  that  the 
missing  portions  have  been  totally  destroyed.  The  affidavit  mu.st  state 
the  cause  and  manner  of  the  mutilation,  and  must  be  sworn  and  sub- 
scribed to  before  an  officer  (jualifietl  to  administer  oaths,  who  must 
affix  his  official  seal   thereto,   and    the   character    of  the   affiant  must  be 


27 

certified  to  be  good  by  such  officer  or  some  ether  having  an  official 
seal.  Signatures  by  mark  (X)  must  be  witnessed  by  two  persons  who 
can  write,  and  who  must  give  their  places  of  residence.  The  Treasurer 
will  exercise  such  discretion  under  this  regulation  as  may  seem  to  him 
needful  to  protect  the  United  States  from  fraud.  Fragments  not  re- 
deemable are  rejected  and  returned. 

RETURNS  FOR  PAPER  CURRENCY. 
For  remittances  received  under  the  Government  contract: 
SUB-TREASURY  CITIES.     P^or  remittances  from  a  place  where 

there  is  a  sub- 
treasury,  re- 
turns will  be 
made  in  new 
United  States 
paper  currency 
by  express,  at 
the  expense  of 
the  consignee, 
at  Government 
contract  rates; 
or,  subject  to 
the  conveni- 
ence of  the 
Treasury,  in  the 
Treasurer 's 
transfer  checks 
on  the  subtreas- 
ury  in  the  place 
from  whence 
the  remittance 
is  received. 
OTHER  PLACES. 
For  remittances 
from  a  place 
where  there  is 
no  sub-treasury 
returns  will  be 
made  in  new 
United     States 

paper  currency  by  express,  at  the  expense  of  the  consignee,  at  Govern- 
ment contract  rates;  or  in  fractional  silver  coin,  at  the  expense  of  the 
Government  for  transportation,  in  sums  or  multiples  of  $200. 

NO  EXCIIAXGIC.  Xo  exchange  for  remittances  of  currency  to 
the  Treasurer  for  redemption  under  the  Government  contract  will  be 
furnished  either  by  transfer  checks  or  shipments  of  currency. 

REDEMPTION  OR  EXCH.WGE  OP^  .SILVER  .AND  MINOR  COIN. 
ASSORTMENT.     Fractional    silver    coin    and    coins    of    copper, 
bronze,  or  copper-nickel. may  be  presented  in  sums  or  multiples  of   520, 


J.  J.   Sl'LUVAX. 

C.'VSHIER    CKXTRAI,    NaTIO.NAI,    It.VNK,    Cl.KVKI  AN  II 


28 

assorted  by  doiomiiiations  iu  separate  packages,  to  the  Treasurer  or  an 
Assistant  Treasurer  for  redemption  or  exchange  into  lawful  money,  and 
standard  silver  dollars  for  exchange  into  silver  certificates  only.  When 
forwarded  by  express,  the  charges  should  be  prepaid. 

OLD  AND  NEW  DESIGN.  Depositors  of  fractional  silver  coin 
will  obtain  quicker  returns  and  aid  the  Depirtment  in  retiring  the  old 
issues  from  circulation,  if  they  will  present  coins  of  the  old  designs  and 
the  new  in  separate  packages. 

NOT  RECEIVED.  No  foreign,  mutilated,  or  defaced  silver  coins 
or  coins  to  which  paper  or  any  other  substance  has  been  attached  as  an 
advertisement  or  for  any  other  purpose,  will  be  received.  Reduction  by 
natural  abrasion  is  not  considered  mutilation. 

DEFACED  MINOR  COIN.  Mmor  coin  that  is  so  defaced  as 
not  to  be  readily  identified,  or  that  is  punched  or  clipped,  will  not  be 
redeemed  or  exchanged.  Pieces  that  are  stamped,  bent,  or  twisted  out 
of  shape,  or  otherwise  imperfect,  but  showing  no  material  loss  of  metal, 
will  be  redeemed. 

TRANSMISSION   TO  THE  TREASURER. 

MAKING  UP  PACKAGES.  United  States  notes,  gold  certifi- 
cates, silver  certificates.  Treasury  notes  of  1890,  and  national  bank  notes 
should  be  sent  in  separate  remittances.  The  notes  should  be  assorted 
by  denominations  and  inclosed  in  paper  straps,  not  more  than  100  notes 
to  each  strap,  and  the  straps  should  be  marked  with  the  amount  of  their 
contents.      Not  more  than  8,000  notes  should  be  put  in  one  package. 

IN\^ENTORY.  An  inventory,  giving  the  amount  of  each  de- 
nomination of  notes,  the  total  amount  in  the  package,  the  address  of  the 
party  sending,  and  the  disposition  to  be  made  of  the  proceeds,  should  be 
inclosed  with  each  package,  and  a  letter  of  advice  sent  by  mail. 

PACKAGES  BY  EXPRESS.  The  package,  if  sent  by  express, 
should  be  sealed  up  in  stout  paper  and  addressed  to  the  "  Treasurer  of 
the  United  States,  Washington,  D.  C."  The  wrapper  should  be  plainly 
marked  with  the  owner's  name  and  address,  the  amount  and  kind  ot 
currency  inclosed,  and,  if  the  sender  desires  the  benefit  of  the  Govern- 
ment contract,  with  the  words  "under  Government  contract  with  the 
United  States  Express  Companw" 

REGISTRATION  FRl-:i:  OF  CHARGE.  It  is  the  duty  of 
postmasters  to  register  free  of  charge  all  letters  on  which  the  jjostage 
has  been  fully  prepaid,  addressed  to  the  Treasurer,  containing  currency 
of  the  United  States  for  redemption.  It  is  recommended  that  all  such 
letters  be  registered  as  a  protection  against  loss. 

REMITTANCES  BY  MAIL  Remittances  of  money  by  mail 
should  be  addressed  to  the  "  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C."  Such  remittances  and  returns  therefore  by  mail  are  in- 
variably at  the  risk  of  the  owners.  All  communications  to  the  Treas- 
urer in  regard  to  packages  lost  in  the  mail  are  referred  for  investigation 
to  the  Chief  Post-(Jffice  Inspector,  I'ost-Office  Department,  Washington, 
D.  C  ,  to  whom  any  subsequent  inquiry  should  be  addre.=sed. 


EXPRESS  CHARGES. 

GOVERNMENT  CONTRACT.  The  Government  contract  with 
the  United  States  ICxpress  Company  for  the  transportation  of  moneys 
and  securities  extends  to  all  points  accessible  through  established  express 
lines  reached  by  continuous  railway  conmiunication,  in  all  the  States  and 
Territories  of  the  United  States,  excepting  Alaska,  Arizona,  California, 
Idaho,  Nevada,  New  ^lexico,  Oregon,  Utah,  and  Washington,  but  does 
not  embrace  sea,  river,  or  stage  transportation  of  any  kind. 

RATES.     The  contract  rates  for  the  transportation  of  all    kinds  of 

paper  currency 
to  or  from 
Washington 
are: 

Between  Wash- 
ington and 
points  in  the 
territory  of  the 
United  States 
Express  Com- 
pany and  reach- 
ed by  it,  20 
cents  per^  1,000 
or  fractional 
part  thereof 
over  5500; 
sums  of  $500 
or  fracti  onal 
part  thereof,  10 
cents. 

Between  Wash- 
i  n  g  t  o  n  and 
points  in  the 
territory  of  an- 
other express 
company  ex- 
cepting points 
in  Texas,  Ar- 
kansas. Colo- 
rado,    Kansas, 

Nebraska,  Montana,  North  Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Wyoming,  and  the 
Indian  and  Oklahoma  Territories,  60  cents  per  $1,000  or  fractional  part 
thereof  over  $500;  sums  of  $500  or  fractional  part  thereof,  40  cents. 

Between  Washington  and  points  in  Colorado,  Kansas,  and  Nebraska, 
75  cents  per  $1,000  or  fractional  part  thereof  over  $500;  sums  of  $500 
or  fractional  part  thereof,  50  cents. 

Between  Washington  and  points  in  Te.xas,  Arkansas,  Montana, 
North  Dakota,  South  Dakota,  W'yoming,  and  the  the  Indian  and  Okla- 
homa Territories,  gi  per  S  1,000  or  fractional  part  thereof  over  $500; 
-sums  of  5500  or  fractional  part  thereof,  65  cents. 


w.  J.  iiAvi:s, 
KF  \\".  J.  H.wES  &  Sons.  1!anki:ks,  Clkvkland-Hosto.v-New  York. 


30 

EXPRESS  CHARGES  PAID  BY  GOVERNMENT.  Express 
charges  are  paid  by  the  Government,  at  contract  rates,  on  standard 
silver  dollars  sent  by  the  Treasurer  or  Assistant  Treasurer  in  sums  or 
multiples  of  $500,  or  fractional  silver  coin  in  sums  of  $200  or  more,  and 
on  minor  coin  sent  from  the  mint  at  Philadelphia  in  sums  or  multiples 
of  320. 

ON  CURRENCY  SENT  FOR  REDEMPTION.  On  United 
States  notes,  gold  certificates,  silver  certificates.  Treasury  notes  of  1890, 
or  national  bank  notes,  sent  for  redemption,  and  on  any  kind  of  lawful 
money  sent  for  credit  of  the  5  per  cent,  redemption  fund,  the  charges,  if 
not  prepaid,  are  deducted  from  the  proceeds  at  contract  rates. 

ON  RETURNS  IN  CURRENCY.  On  United  States  notes,  gold 
certificates,  silver  certificates,  or  Treasury  notes  of  1890,  returned  for 
United  States  currency  or  national  bank  notes  redeemed,  the  charges 
are  deducted  at  contract  rates. 

ON  SILVER  AND  MINOR  COIN.  On  standard  silver  dollars, 
fractional  silver  coin,  and  minor  coin,  sent  for  exchange  or  redemption 
the  charges  must  be  prepaid  by  the  sender. 

ON  TRANSFERS  OF  FUNDS.  On  transfer  of  funds  from 
national  bank  depositaries,  under  letters  of  instruction,  the  charges  must 
be  paid  by  the  depositaries. 

CONTROL  OF  RATES.  The  Treasurer  has  no  control  over 
rates  e.xacted  when  the  charges  are  prepaid,  or  for  the  transportation 
outside  of  the  territorial  limits  of  the  contract. 

EXPRESS  CHARGES  INCLOSED  No  charge  is  made  for  the 
amount  of  express  charges  inclosed  with  a  remittance  when  separately 
noted  on  the  wrapper.  Packages  should  always  be  marked  with  the 
exact  amount  of  the  contents. 

GENERAL    INFORMATION. 

ASSORTMENT  OF  CURRENCY  BY  KINDS  AND  DE- 
NOMINATIONS. Paper  currency  presented  for  redemption  or  ex- 
change or  for  credit  of  the  Treasurer  at  the  offices  of  the  Assistant 
Treasurers  must  be  assorted  by  kinds  and  denominations,  and  inclosed  in 
paper  straps,  the  straps  not  to  contain  more  than  100  notes  each,  and 
to  be  plainly  marked  with  the  amount  of  the  contents. 

STAMPING  COUNTERFEIT  MONEY.  The  act  of  June  30, 
1876,  (19  Statutes,  64),  recjuires  "  that  all  United  States  officers  charged 
with  the  receipt  or  disbursement  of  public  moneys,  and  all  officers  ot 
national  banks, shall  stamp  or  write  in  plain  letters  the  wird  'counterfeit,' 
'altered,'  or  'worthless'  upon  all  fraudulent  notes  issued  in  the  form  of 
and  intended  to  circuUte  as  monev  which  shall  be  presented  at  their 
j)laces  of  business ;  and  if  such  officers  shall  wrongfully  stamp  any 
genuine  note  of  the  United  States  or  of  the  national  banks,  they  shall, 
upon  presentation,  redeem  such  notes  at  the  face  value  thereof." 

DISPOSITION  OF  COUNTERFEIT  MONEY.  Counterfdt 
notes  or  coins  found  in  remittances  to  this  office  are  returned  to  the 
sender  canceled  for  the  p  irpose  of  enabling  him  to  make  reclamation, 
and  after  such  use  they  must  be  returneti  to  the  Treasurer  for  transfer  to 
the  Secret-Service  Divi-i  >n  nf  the  Treasury  Department. 


REFUNDING   CKRTIFICATES. 

The  Act  of  February  26,  1879,  (20  Statutes,  321),  authorized  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  issue,  in  exchange  for  lawful  money  of 
the  United  States,  certificates  of  deposit,  of  the  denomination  of  ten 
dollars,  bearing  interest  at  the  rate  of  4  per  cent,  per  annum,  and  converti- 
ble at  any  time,  with  accrued  interest,  into  the  4  per  cent,  bonds  described 
in  the  refunding  act. 

The  said  Act  made  no  provision  for  their  payment  in  money.  After 
July   I,    1907,   when    the  4   per   cent,  bonds   become   redeemable  at  the 

option  of  Gov- 
ernment, hold- 
ers of  certifi- 
cates, i  f  the 
Secretary  so  di- 
rects, may  re- 
ceive in  cash 
their  face  value 
with  interest  ac- 
crued to  that 
date.  No  mon- 
ey can  be  ac- 
cepted in  the 
conversion  o  f 
these  certifi- 
cates to  make 
up  the  amount 
required  for  the 
issue  of  a  bond; 
only  their  face 
value  and  the 
accrued  interest 
can  be  applied. 
Parties  send- 
ing certificates 
for  conversion 
should  state 
whether  regis- 
tered or  coupon 
bonds  are  de- 
sired, and  should  forward  the  certificates  to  the  Treasurer,  who  will 
furnish  the  necessary  data  for  the  issue  of  bonds  by  the  Secretary.  Any 
excess  of  interest  is  returned  by  check  to  the  remittor. 

GOLD  CERTIFICATES. 

FIRST  AUTHORIZED.  The  issue  of  Gold  Certificates  was 
authorized  by  Section  5  of  the  Act  of  March  3,  1863,  ( (2  Stat.,  p.  709), 
as   follows: 

That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  i.s  hereby  authorized  to  receive 
deposits   of  gold   coin   and  bullion    with  the  Treasurer  or  any  Assistant 


OKRIX   III. MP. 
PRKSIDKNT    Old    SECOXD    XATIO.NAI.    BA.NK.    IiA\     Cn\,    MiCIIK.A.N. 


Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  in  sums  not  less  than  twei  ty  dollars,  and 
to  issue  certificates  therefor,  in  denomiiiaiions  of  not  less  than  twenty- 
dollars  each,  corresponding  with  the  denominations  of  the  United  States 
notes.  The  coin  and  bullion  deposited  for  or  representing  the  certifi- 
cates of  deposit  shall  be  retained  in  the  Treasury  for  the  payment  <  f  the 
same  on  demand.  And  certificates  representing  coin  in  the  Treasury 
may  be  issued  in  payment  of  interest  on  the  public  debt,  which  cert.fi- 
cates,  together  with  those  issued  for  coin  and  bullion  deposited,  shall 
not  at  any  time  exceed  twenty  per  centum  beyond  the  amount  of  coin 
and  bullion  in  the  Treasury;  and  the  certificates  for  coin  or  bullion  in 
the  Treasury  shall  be  received  at  par  in  payment  for  duties  on  imports." 

It  will  be  observed  that  under  the  foregoing  Act  the  Secretary  was 
authorized,  but  not  required,  to  issue  certificates  on  deposits  of  gold  coin 
and  bullion.  Their  issue  under  this  Act  was  discontinued  during  the 
fiscal  year  ending  June  ^o,  1879. 

PRESENT  AUTHORITY.  By  Section  12  of  the  Act  of  July  12, 
1882,  (22  Stat,  p.  165),  their  issue  was  "aulhoiized  and  directed,"  as 
follows : 

"That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  authorized  and  directed  to 
receive  deposits  of  gold  coin  with  the  Treasurer  or  Assistant  Treasurer 
of  the  United  States,  in  sums  not  less  than  twenty  dollars,  and  to  issue 
certificates  therefor  in  denominations  of  nc  t  less  than  twenty  dollars 
each,  corresponding  with  the  denominations  of  United  States  notes. 
The  coin  deposited  for  or  representing  the  certificates  of  deposit  shall  be 
retained  in  the  Treasury  for  the  payment  of  the  same  on  demand.  Slid 
certificates  shall  be  receivable  for  custi:)ms,  taxes,  and  all  public  dues, 
and  when  so  received  may  be  re-issued;  and  such  certificates,  as  also 
silver  certificates,  when  held  by  any  national  banking  association,  shall 
be  counted  as  part  of  its  lawful  reserve  ;  and  no  national  banking  asso- 
ciation shall  be  a  member  of  any  clearmg  house  in  which  such  certifi- 
cates shall  not  be  receivable  in  thesettlement  of  clearing  house  balances  : 
Provided,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  suspend  the  issue 
of  such  gold  certificates  whenever  the  amount  c  f  gold  coin  and  gold 
bullion  in  the  Treasury  reserved  for  the  redemption  of  United  States 
notes  falls  below  one  hundred  millions  of  do  lars;      *      *      *      * 

ONE  HUNDRED  MILLION  RESERVE.  In  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  the  foregoing  Act  the  issue  of  gold  certificates  was 
suspended  on  April  14,  1893,  the  gold  coin  and  bullion  in  the  Treasurx- 
"reserved  for  the  redemption  of  United  States  notes"  having  fallen 
below  the  amount  of  one  hundred  million   dollars. 

CURRENCY  CERTIFICATES. 

(Act  of  June  8,  1872). 

R.  S.  Section  5193.  "The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  may  receive 
United  States  notes  on  deposit,  without  interest,  from  any  national 
banking  associations,  in  sums  of  not  less  than  ten  thousand  dollars,  and 
issue  certificates  therefor  in  such  form  as  he  may  prescribe,  in  denom- 
inations of  not  less  than   five  thousand   dollars,  and  payable  on  demand 


33 

ill  United  States  notes  at  the  place  where  the  deposits  were  made.  The 
notes  so  deposited  shall  not  be  counted  as  part  of  the  lawful  money- 
reserve  of  the  association  ;  but  the  certificates  issued  therefor  may  be 
counted  as  part  of  its  lawful  money  reserve,  and  may  be  accepted  in  the 
2ttlement  of  clearing-house  balances  at  the  places  where  the  deposits 
therefor  were  made." 

R.  S.  Section  5194.  "The  power  conferred  en  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  by  the  preceding  section,  shall  not  be  exercised  so  as  to 
create  any  expansion  or  contraction  of  the  currency.  And  United 
States  notes  for  which  certificates  are  issued  under  that  section,  or  other 
United  States  notes  of  like  amount,  shall  be  held  as  special  deposits  in 
the  Treasury,  and  used  only  for  the  redemption  of  such  certificates." 

INTEREST  CHECKS.     4  PER  CENT.  CONSOLS  OF   1907. 

CLOSING  AND  OPENING  OF  TRANSFER  BOOKS.  The 
Books  of  the  Department  are  closed  to  the  transfer  of  stock  on  the 
evening  of  the  last  day  of  February,  May,  August,  and  November,  and 
re-opened  for  transfer  and  exchange  on  the  morning  of  the  first  day  of 
April,  July,  October,  and  January.  In  case  stock  is  transferred  while 
the  books  are  closed,  the  interest  will  be  declared  in  favor  of  the  payee 
of  the  old  bonds. 

DATES  OF  DIVIDENDS  AND  PAYMENT  OF  CHECKS. 
The  quarterly  dividends  of  interest,  due  on  the  first  day  of  January, 
April,  July,  and  October,  are  paid  by  checks,  which  are  mailed  on  or 
before  those  dates  to  holders  of  stock  or  to  parties  designated  by  the 
holders  to  receive  them.  Checks  can  be  drawn  only  in  the  names  of 
the  payees  inscribed  on  the  face  of  the  stock. 

5   PER  CENT.  BONDS  OF   1904. 

CLOSING  AND  OPENING  OF  TRANSFER  BOOKS.  The 
Books  of  the  Department  are  closed  to  the  transfer  of  stock  on  the 
evening  of  the  fifteenth  of  January,  April,  July,  and  October,  and  re- 
opened for  transfer  and  exchange  on  the  morning  of  the  first  day  of 
February,  May,  August,  and  November. 

DATES  OF  DIVIDENDS  AND  PAYMENT  OF  CHECKS. 
The  quarterly  dividends  of  interest,  due  on  the  first  day  of  February, 
May,  August,  and  November,  are  paid  by  checks,  which  are  mailed  on  or 
before  those  dates  to  holders  of  stock  or  to  parties  designated  by  the 
holders  to  receive  them.  Checks  can  be  drawn  only  in  the  names  of 
the  payees  inscribed  on  the  face  of  the  stock. 

4><   PER  CENT.  FUNDED  LOAN    OF   1891,  (CONTINUED 
AT  2  PER   CENT.) 

CLOSING  AND  OPENING  OF  TRANSFER  BOOKS.  The 
Books  of  the  Department  are  closed  to  the  transfer  of  stock  on  the 
evening  of  the  last  day  of  January,  April,  July,  and  October,  and  re- 
opened for  transfer  and  exchange  on  the  morning  of  the  first  day  of 
March.  June,  September,  and  December. 


34 

DATES  OF  DIVIDENDS  AND  PAYMENT  OF  CHECKb 
The  quarterly  dividends  of  interest,  due  on  the  first  day  of  March,  June, 
Scpientber,  and  December,  are  paid  by  checks,  which  are  mailed  on  or 
befoie  those  dates  to  holders  of  Stock  or  to  parties  designated  by  the 
holders  to  receive  them.  Checks  can  be  drawn  only  in  the  names  of 
the  payees  inscribed  on  the  face  of  the  stock. 

PACIFIC  RAILWAY  BONDS. 

CLOSING  AND  OPENING  OF  TRANSFER  BOOKS.  The 
Books  of  the  Department  are  closed  to  the  transfer  of  this  stock  on  the 
evening  of  the  la^t  day  of  May  and  November,  and  re-opened  for  trans- 
fer and  exchange  on  the  morning  of  the  first  day  of  July   and   Januarw 

DATES  OF  DIVIDENDS  AND  PAYMENT  OF  CHECKS. 
The  semi-annual  dividends  of  interest,  due  on  the  first  day  of  January 
and  July,  are  paid  by  checks,  which  are  mailed  en  or  before  tho.^e  dates 
to  holders  of  stock  or  to  parties  designated  by  the  holders  to  receive 
them.  Checks  can  be  drawn  only  in  the  names  of  the  payees  inscribed 
c  n  the  face  of  the  stock. 

3.65  DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA   FUNDING  BONDS. 

CLOSING  AND  OPENING  OF  TRANSFER  BOOKS.  The 
Books  of  the  Department  are  closed  to  the  transfer  of  this  stock  on  the 
evening  of  the  21st  day  of  January  and  July,  and  re-opened  for  transfer 
and  exchange  on  the  morning  of  the  first  day  of  succeeding  months. 

DATES  OF  DIVIDENDS.  The  dividends  of  interest  are 
payable  semi-annually,  at  the  (  ffice  of  the  Treasurer  U.  S.  or  the  Assis- 
tant Treasurer  U.  S.  in  New  York,  on  the  first  day  of  February  and 
August  by  checks,  which  are  sent  by  mail  on  those  dates  to  holders  of 
stock  or  to  parties  designated  by  them  to  receive  their  checks.  The 
check  can  be  drawn  only  in  the  name  of  the  payee  inscribed  on  the 
face  of  the  stock. 

GENERAL  REGULATIONS  AS  TO  INTERIiST  CKECKS. 

FOUR  MONTHS  LIMIT:  For  a  period  of  four  months  from 
date  of  issue,  checks  are  payable  at  the  cffices  of  the  Treasurer  U.  S., 
and  any  Assistant  Treasurer  U.  S.;  after  that  time  they  are  payable  only 
at  the  U.  S.  Treasury  in  Washington. 

DUPLICATE  CHECKS.  Upon  request  being  made  for  a  dupli- 
cate, payment  of  the  original  check  will  be  stopped,  and,  upon  satisfac- 
tory proof  of  its  loss,  a  bond  of  indemnity  will  be  prepared  in  this 
office,  and  transmitted  for  execution.  Ujwn  the  return  of  the  bond 
executed  according  to  instructions,  and  its  approval  by  the  Comptroller 
of  the  Treasury,  a  duplicate  check  will  be  issued,  provided  /r^;Y)'-yf7v  (/<7rs 
have  elapsed  from  the  date  of  the  original.  Foreign  holders  of  stock 
will  be  recjuired,  under  the  ruling  of  this  Department,  to  execute  such  a 
bond  with  two  sureties  resident  in  the  United  States. 

SCI  IEI)ULP2S.  Schedules,  from  which  the  checks  are  written 
and  mailed,  giving  the  name  and  address  of  each  payee,  the  amount  of 
bonds  held  by  him,  and  the  interest  due  thereon,  are  prepared  quarterly 


35 

in  the  office  of  the  "  Re^jister  of  the  Treasury,  Washington,  D.  C."  to 
whom  all  communications  relating  thereto  should  be  addressed. 

CHANGE  OF  ADDRESS.  Requests  to  change  the  post-office 
address  of  a  person  entitled  to  receive  interest-checks  should  give  the 
title  of  the  loan  and  the  last  post-office  address,  and  be  sent  to  the 
Register  of  the  Treasury.  The  address  should  be  given  in  full,  and 
include  the  street  and  number. 

IXDORSEMEXTS.      i.     The   name  of  the 


paj'ee, 


as  indorsed, 
must  corres- 
pond with 
that  on  the 
face  of  the 
check.  If 
the  name  as 
written  on  the 
check  is  spell- 
ed incorrectly, 
the  check 
should  be  re- 
turned to  the 
Treasurer  U. 
S.  for  correc- 
tion, unless 
the  spelling 
corresponds 
with  that  on 
the  face  of  the 
bonds,  in. 
which  case 
both  check 
and  bonds 
should  be  for- 
warded to  the 
Register  ot 
the  Treasury 
for  correction. 
2.  Payees 
and  indorsees 
must  indorse 
by  their  own 
hands;  offi- 
cials.officially, 

with  full  title;  firms,  the  usual  firm  signature  by  a  member   of  the   firm, 

not  by  a  clerk  or  other  person  for  the  firm. 

3.  Stamped  indorsements  and  signatures  in  pencil  are  nf)t  accepted. 

4.  Indorsements  by  mark  (X)  must  be  witnessed  by   two   persons 
who  can  write,  and  who  must  give  their  places  of  residence. 

5.  When  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  been  notified  that  the 
payee  of  bonds  are  infants,  checks  issued  in  pa}ment  of  interest  thereon 


.\RTHrR  I).  BISSKLL. 

I'RKSIDKNT    I'Kori.K'S    HANK.    ItrFK.AI.O.    N. 


36 

are  delivered  and  paid  only  to  the  guardian  of  such  infants  who  must 
file  with  the  Auditor  of  the  Treasury  Department  evidence,  (i)  of 
guardianship;  (2)  that  his  authority  is  in  force;  and  (3)  of  the  identity 
of  his  ward  wiih  the  payee  of  the  bonds.  Neither  the  father  nor  the 
mother  ot  the  infant  has  the  right  to  indorse  such  interest-checks. 

6.  Interest-checks  are  paid  upon  the  indorsement  of  any  one 
of  several  joint  holders,  co-attorneys,  guardians,  executors,  adminis- 
trators, or  trustees;  but  in  a  transfer  of  stock,  or  in  the  execution  cf  a 
power  of  attorney  to  collect  interest,  all  must  join. 

7.  Indorsements  by  an  agent,  attorney,  guardian,  executor,  admin- 
istrator, or  trustee  of  an  estate,  are  not  recognized  unless  evidence  of 
authority  has  been  filed  with  the  Auditor  for  Treasury  Department.  In 
the  four  last-named  cases  the  certificate,  under  seal,  of  the  Probate 
Court  is  required. 

8.  Evidence  of  authority  to  indorse  checks  payable  to  corpora- 
tions or  societies,  except  in  the  case  of  CasJiiers  of  National  Banks,  must 
be  furnished  the  Auditor  for  Treasury  Department  in  the  form  of  a 
certified  copy,  under  seal,  of  an  extract  from  the  by-laws  showing  the 
authority  of  the  officer  to  indorse  for  the  corporation  or  society,  and 
giving  his  name  and  the  date  of  his  election,  or  in  the  form  of  a  resolu- 
tion adopted  by  the  official  board  of  such  corporation  or  society,  desig- 
nating by  name  and  title  the  officers  empowered  to  collect  interest.  TJie 
same  evidence  is  rcqnired  to  cover  indorsements  by  Presidents,  J^ice-Presi- 
dcjiis,  and  assistant  Cashiers  of  National  Banks.  If  the  corporation  or 
society  have  no  seal,  the  instrument  must  be  acknowledged  before  a 
notary  public  or  other  competent  officer  under  his  seal. 

9.  When  a  check  is  payable  to  an  officer  of  an  institution,  as,  for 
instance,  "John  Smith,  Cashier  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Smith- 
ville,  Ohio,"  authority  for  any  other  individual  to  indorse  must  be  given 
by  the  officer  named  in  the  check. 

10.  In  transmitting  to  the  Auditor  for  Treasury  Department 
powers  of  attorney,  letters  testamentary,  letters  of  administration,  or 
other  evidence  of  authority  for  indorsements,  notice  should  be  given 
that  officer  at  which  of  the  following  named  officers  checks  will  be  pre- 
sented for  payment  under  such  powers,  viz:  Washington,  New  York, 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  New 
Orleans,  and  San  Francisco. 

NOTE.  District  of  Columbia  checks  are  payable  only  at  Wash- 
ington and  New  York. 

I  I.  Checks  paid  on  indorsements  not  in  accordance  with  the 
above  requirements  are  returned  to  the  parties  through  whose  hands 
they  have  passed  for  collection,  with  reclamation  for  the  amounts. 

TRANSFER    CHECKS. 

The  Treasurer's  transfer  checks  are  issued  by  the  Redemption 
Division  in  return  for  United  States  notes  and  Treasury  notes  of  1890 
received  for  redemption,  by  the  Loan  Division  in  the  redemption  of 
United  States  bonds;  by  the  Cashier  in  redemption  of  subsidiary  silver 
coin  or  minor  coin,  and   in   various   other   cases  ;  and   b\-  the   National 


Bank  Redemption  Agency  in  leturn  for  national  bank  notes  sent  for 
redemption.  Said  checks  are  drawn  on  the  Assistant  Treasurers  of  the 
United  States  at  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Cincinnati, 
Chicago,  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans,  and  San  Francisco. 

DUPLICATES.  Upon  request  being  made  for  a  duplicate,  pay- 
ment of  the  original  check  will  be  stopped,  and,  upon  satisfactory  proof 
of  its  loss,  a  bond  of  indemnity  will  be  prepared  in  this  office,  and 
transmitted  for  execution.  Upon  the  return  of  the  bond  executed  ac- 
cording to  instructions,  and  its  approval  by  the  Comptroller  of  the 
Treasury,  a  duplicate  check  will  be  issued,  provided  forty-five  days  have 
elapsed  from  the  date  of  the  original. 

TREASURY  DRAFTS  AND  WARRANTS. 

Treasury  drafts  were  drawn  by  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States, 
based  upon  warrants  drawn  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  counter- 
signed by  the  Comptroller,  and  recorded  by  the  Register.  The  drafts 
were  drawn  upon  the  Treasurer  U.  S.,  an  Assistant  Treasurer  U.  S.,  or  a 
national  bank  designated  as  a  depository  of  public  moneys  of  the  United 
States.  By  recent  provisions  of  law  the  issue  of  Treasury  drafts  ceased 
on  December  31,  1894,  and  on  January  i,  1895,  the  issue  of  TREAS- 
URY WARRANTS  commenced  in  their  stead. 

DUPLICATES.  Upon  request  being  made  for  a  duplicate,  pay- 
ment of  the  original  will  be  stopped,  and,  upon  satisfactory  proof  of  its 
loss,  a  bond  of  indemnit)'  will  be  prepared  in  this  office,  and  transmitted 
for  execution.  Upon  return  of  the  bond  executed  according  to  instruc- 
tions, and  its  approval  by  the  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury,  a  duplicate 
will  be  issued,  providing  forty  five  days  have  elapsed  from  the  date  of 
the  original. 

INDORSEMENT  AND    PAYMENT    OF   TREASURY    DRAFTS 
AND  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT  WARRANTS. 

(Department  Circular  No.  87  of  June  7,  1893.) 

Treasury  drafts  and  Post-Office  warrants  must  not  be  paid  until  the 
indorsements  conform  to  the  following  regulations  : 

1.  The  name  of  the  payee,  as  indorsed,  must  correspond  in  spell- 
ing with  that  on  the  face  of  the  draft;  no  guarantee  of  an  indorsment, 
imperfect  in  itself,  can  be  accepted.  If  the  name  of  a  payee,  as  written 
on  the  face  of  a  draft,  is  s[)elled  incorrectly,  the  draft  should  be  returned 
to  the  Treasurer  U.  S.  for  correction. 

2.  Indorsements  by  mark  (X)  must  be  witnessed  by  two  persons 
who  can  write,  giving  their  places  of  residence. 

3.  Indorsements  by  executors,  administrators,  guardians,  or  other 
fiduciaries  must  be  accompanied  by  certified  copies,  under  seal,  of  letters 
testamentary,  letters  of  administration,  of  guardianship,  or  other  evidence 
of  fiduciary  character,  as  the  case  may  be. 

4.  Payees  and  indorsees  must  indorse  by  their  own  hands ;  officials, 
officially  with  full  title:  firms,  the  usual  firm  signature  by  a  member  of 
the  firm,  not  b}-  a  clerk  or  other  person  for  the  firm. 


38 

5-  Every  indorsement  must  be  by  the  proper  written  (not  printed) 
signature  of  the  person  whose  indorsement  is  required. 

6.  Powers  of  attorney  for  the  indorsements  of  drafts  in  payment 
of  claims  must  be  executed  as  required  by  section  3477  of  the  Revise^l 
Statutes  of  the  United  States.  The  letter  of  attorney  must  state  the 
number,  date,  and  amount  of  the  draft,  also  the  number  and  kind  of 
warrant  on  which  the  draft  is  issued ;  must  be  signed  by  the  constituent 
in  the  presence  of  at  least  two  attesting  witnesses  subsequently  to  the 
date  of  the  draft,  and  be  acknowledged  by  him  before  a  notary  public, 
and  certified  by  such  officer  under  his  hand  and  official  seal;  or,  when 
not  before  a  notary  public,  the  acknowledgment  must  be  before  an 
officer  having  authority  to  take  acknowledgments  of  deeds  within  the 
State  or  Territory  in  which  it  is  taken,  which  authority  must  be  shown 
by  a  certificate  as  to  the  official  character  and  signature  of  such  officer 
and  setting  forth  that  he  is  duly  authorized  to  take  acknowledgments  of 
deeds,  made  by  the  clerk  of  a  court  or  record  of  such  State  or  Territory, 
under  the  seal  of  the  court,  or  by  some  other  officer  of  the  State  or 
Territory  authorized  to  make  such  certificate,  under  his  official  seal. 

If  executed  in  a  foreign  country,  the  acknowledgment  must  be 
before  a  notary  public,  and  certified  under  his  hand  and  official  seal,  or 
before  a  consul  or  minister  of  the  United  States,  under  the  seal  of  the 
legation  or  consulate. 

The  official  taking  the  acknowledgment  must  certify  that  the  letter 
of  attorney  was  read  and  fully  explained  to  the  constituent  at  the  time 
of  acknowledgment,  and  that  said  constituent  is  personally  well  known 
to  him  to  be  the  identical  person  named  in  and  who  subscribed  his  name 
to  said  power  of  attorney. 

7.  Evidence  of  authority  to  indorse  for  incorporated  or  unincorpor- 
ated companies  must  have  been  previously  filed  ivitJi  the  First  Comptroller 
of  the  Treasury,  or  accompany  drafts  drawn  or  indorsed  to  the  order  of 
such  companies  or  associations.  Such  evidence  should  be  in  the  form 
f'f  an  extract  from  the  by-laws  or  records  of  the  company  or  association 
showing  the  authority  of  the  officer  to  indorse  and  receive  and  receipt 
for  moneys  for  the  company,  and  giving  his  name  and  the  date  of  his 
election  (t  appointment,  and  the  period  for  which  he  was  elected  or  ap- 
pointed, and  that  such  authority  shall  be  binding  on  the  company  until 
notice  of  revocation  has  been  filed  zvith  the  First  Comptroller  of  the 
Treasury,  whic.i  extract  must  be  verified  by  a  certificate  under  seal 
signed  by  the  president  and  secretary,  or  by  one  of  these  officers  and 
not  less  than  two  of  the  directors;  which  certificate  must  state  that  such 
authority  remains  unrevoked  and  unchanged.  If  the  company  have  no 
seal,  the  extract  should  be  certified  as  correct  by  a  notary  public  or 
other  competent  officer  under  his  seal.  When  a  resolution  is  adopted 
at  a  special  meeting  <  f  directors,  it  must  be  shown  that  all  had  notice  of 
the  time  and  place  of  such  meeting,  and  that  a  quorum  assented  to  ihe 
resolution. 

The  evidence  of  authority  to  indorse  required  in  paragraph  7, 
above,  may  be  dispensed  with  in  the  case  of  drafts  or  checks  not  exceed- 
ing in  amount  the  sum  of  tv\eni)-five  dollars  ($2 5),  payable  to  a  corpor- 


39 

tion  or  company  which  necessarily  employs  a  number  of  local  agents  in 
the  transaction  of  its  business — such  as  railroad,  telegraph,  steamboat, 
express,  tran>fer,  turnpike,  hotel,  newspaper,  gas,  and  ice  companies — 
when  it  is  impracticable  to  obtain  the  indorsement  of  the  secretary, 
treasurer,  or  other  principal  officer  of  such  corporation  or  company: 
Provided,  that  the  draft  or  check  be  indorsed  by  a  local  agent  of  such 
corporation  or  company  who  is  authorized  t")  receive  and  collect  money 
on  behalf  of  the  same,  and  that  this  indorsement  as  such  agent  be 
guaranteed  by  a  bank,  or  by  some  other  responsible  and  satisfactory 
guarantor. 

8.  In  cases  where  an  individual  or  a  co-partnership  is  doing  busi- 
ness under  a  company  title,  the  affidavit  of  the  owner  or  of  at  least  two 

members  of  the  co- 
partnership will  be 
required,  showing 
the  fact  of  owner- 
ship, and  in  the 
case  of  co-part- 
nerships, naming 
the  member  of  the 
co-partnership  who 
is  authorized  to 
indorse  and  receive 
and  receipt  for 
moneys  for  the 
owners. 

9.  The  indorse- 
ment of  all  the  joint 
holders  or  co-trus- 
tees, executors,  ad- 
ministrators, guard- 
ians, or  other  fiduc- 
iaries will  be  re- 
quired on  drafts, 
and  in  the  execu- 
tion of  a  power  to 
a  third  party  to 
collect  all  must 
join.  In  case  of 
the  death  of  either,  the  survivors  will  be  recognized  as  having  full 
authority,  upon  due  proof  of  such  death  and  survivorship. 

NOTE.  Since  this  circular,  the  latest  on  the  subject,  was  issued, 
the  official  designation  of  the  l-'irst  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  has 
been  changed  to  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury,  the  offi:c  of  Second 
Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  having  been  abolished. 

GOLD  COINS  OF  THE  U.NITED  STATES. 

FINENESS  AND  ALLOY.  The  .standard  for  gold  coins  of  the 
United  States  .vjiall  be  such  that  of  one  thousand   paits  by  weight   nire 


CLAKKNCK   W.   H.-\M.MONI>, 

CASHIER    PEOPLE'S    B.ANK,   KfKE.AI.O.   N.    Y. 


40 

hundred  shall  be  of  pure  metal  and  one  hundred  of  alloy:  The  alloy 
of  the  gold  coins  shall  be  of  copper,  or  of  copper  and  silver;  but  ihc 
silver  shall  in  no  case  exceed  one-tenth  of  the  whole  alloy.  (R.  S. 
Section  '514) 

NOW  ISSUED. 

;^20 — Double  Eagle.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  March  3,  1849, 
(9th  Stat.,  p.  397).  Standard  weight  of  the  double-eagle,  or  twenty 
dollar  piece,  five  hundred  and  sixteen  grains.     (R.  S.  Section  351 1) 

^10 — Eagle.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  April  2,  1792,  (i  Stat, 
p.  248).  Standard  weight  of  the  eagle,  or  ten-dollar  piece,  two  hundred 
and  fifty  eight  grains.     (R.  S.  Section  351 1.) 

;^5 — Half  Eagle.  Authorized  by  Act  of  April  2,  1792,  (i  S':at , 
p.  248).  Standard  weight  of  the  half-eagle,  or  five-dollar  piece,  one 
hundred  and  twenty-nine  grains.     (R.  S.  Section  3511.) 

$2}4 — Quarter  Eagle.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  April  2,  1792, 
(i  Stat.,  p.  248).  Standard  weight  of  the  quarter-eagle,  or  two  and  a 
half  dollar  piece,  sixty-four  and  a  half  grains.     (R.  S.  Section  351 1.) 

COINAGE    DISCONTINUED. 

^3  Piece.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  February  21,  1853,  (10  Stat., 
p.  161).  Standard  weight  of  the  three-dollar  piece,  seventy-seven  and 
four-tenths  grains.  (R.  S.  Section  351  i.)  Coinage  discontinued  by  the 
Act  of  September  26,  1890,  (26  Stat.,  p.  485). 

^i  Piece.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  March  3,  1849,  (9  Stat ,  p. 97  ) 
"The  gold  coins  of  the  United  States  shall  be  a  one-dollar  piece, 
which,  at  the  standard  weight  of  twenty-five  and  eight-tenths  grains, 
shall  be  the  unit  of  value  *  *  *  *  ,"  (R.  S.  Section  35  1 1.)  Coin- 
age discontinued  by  the  Act  of  September  26,  1890,  (26  Stat,  p.   485). 

SILVER  COINS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

FINENESS  AND  ALLOY.  The  standard  for  silver  coins  of  the 
United  States  shall  be  such  that  of  one  thousand  parts  by  weight  nine 
hundred  shall  be  of  pure  metal  and  one  hundred  of  alloy.  The  alloy 
of  silver  coins  shall  be  of  copper.     (R.  S.  Section  3514.) 

NOW  ISSUED. 

STANDARD  SILVER  DOLLARS.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of 
April  2,  1792,(1  Stat.,  p.  248).  Coinage  discontinued  by  the  Act  of 
February  12,  1873,  (R.  S.  Section  3513).  Coinage  re-authorized  by  the 
Act  of  February  28,  1878,  (20  Stat.,  p.  25). 

The  Act  of  February  28,  1878,  (R.  S.  Supplement,  p.  152)  i)rovides: 

"That  there  shall  be  coined,  at  the  several  mints  of  the  United 
States,  silver  dollars  of  the  weight  of  four  hundred  and  twelve  and  a 
half  grains,  Troy  of  standard  silver,  as  provided  in  the  Act  of  January 
eighteenth,  eighteen  hundred  thirty-seven,  on  which  shall  be  the  devices 
and  superscriptions  provided  by  said  act;      *      *      * 

NOTF^ — The  provisions  of  the  Act  of  1837,  ch.  3,  (5  Stat,  L., 
137),  here  referred  to,  are  as  follows: 


41 

"Sections.  That  the  standard  for  both  gold  and  silver  coins  of 
the  United  States  shall  hereafter  be  such,  that  of  the  one  thousand  part 
by  weight,  nine  hundred  shall  be  of  pure  metal,  and  one  hundred  of 
alloy;  and  the  alloy  of  the  silver  coins  shall  be  copper.     *     *     * 

"Section  9.  That  of  the  silver  coins,  the  dollar  shall  be  of  the 
weight  of  four  hundred  and  twelve  and  one-half  grains;     *      *      * 

HALF  DOLLARS.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  April  2,  1792, 
(i  Stat.,  p.  248).  The  weight  of  the  half-dollar  shall  be  twelve  grams 
and  one-half  of  a  gram.     (R.  S.  Section  3513). 

QUARTER  DOLLARS.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  April  2, 
1792,  (i  Stat.,  p.  248).  The  weight  of  the  quarter- dollar  shall  be  one- 
half  of  the  weight  of  said  half-dollar.     (R.  S.  Section  3513). 

DIMES.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  April  2,  1792,  (i  Stat.,  p.  248). 
The  weight  of  the  dime  shall  be  one-fifth  of  the  weight  of  the  said 
half-dollar.     (R.  S.  Section  3513) 

COINAGE    DISCONTINUED. 

TRADE  DOLLARS.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  February  12. 
1873,  (R.  S.  Section  3513.)  The  weight  of  the  trade  dollar  shall  be 
four  hundred  and  twenty  grains  troy.  (Ibid.)  Coinage  suspended  by 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  February  22,  1878.  By  Act  of  March  3, 
1887,  (24  Stat.,  p.  635)  the  authority  to  coin  was  repealed,  and  it  was 
provided  that  for  a  period  of  six  months  they  should  be  received  by  the 
Treasurer  or  any  Assistant  Treasurer  in  exchange  for  silver  dollars  or 
subsidiary  coins.  This  period  having  expired  they  are  not  now  redeem- 
able but  are  purchased  by  the  Mints  as  bullion  in  the  same  manner  as 
other  uncurrent  silver  coin. 

TWENTY  CENT  PIECES.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  March  3. 
1875,  (18  Stat.,  p.  478.)  There  shall  he  coined  at  the  Mints  a  coin  of 
silver  of  the  denomination  of  twenty  cents,  and  of  the  weight  of  five 
grams.  (Ibid.)  Coinage  discontinued  by  the  Act  of  May  2,  1878, 
(20  Stat.,  p.  47). 

HALF  DIMES.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  April  2,  1792, 
(i  Stat.,  p.  248).  To  be  of  the  value  of  one-twentieth  of  a  dollar,  and 
to  contain  eighteen  grains  and  nine-sixteenths  part  of  a  grain  of  pure, 
or  twenty  grains  and  four-fifth  parts  of  a  grain  of  standard  silver. 
(Ibid.)  Coinage  discontinued  by  the  Act  of  February  12,  1873.  (R.  S. 
Section  3513. 

THREE  CENT  PIECES.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  March  3, 
1851,  (9  Stat.,  p.  591)-  To  be  composed  of  three-fourths  silver  and 
one-fourth  copper,  and  to  weigh  twelve  grains  and  three-eighths  of  a 
grain.  (Ibid.)  Coinage  discontinued  by  the  Act  of  P^ebruary  12, 
1873,  (R.  S.  Section  3513.) 

MINOR  COINS  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 
NOW  ISSUED. 

FIVE  CENT  NICKEL.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  May  16, 
1866,  (14  Stat.,  p.  47).     The  alloy   for  the  five  cent  piece   shall  be  of 


42 

copper  and  nickel,  to  be  composed  of  three-fourths  copper  and  one- 
fourth  nickel.  The  weight  of  the  piece  of  five  cents  shall  be  seventy- 
seven  and  sixteen  hundredths  grains  troy.     (R.  S.  Section  3515). 

ONE  CENT    BRONZE.       Authorized  by  the  Act  of  April    22. 

1864,  (13  Stat.,  p.  54),  The  alloy  of  the  one  cent  piece  shall  be  ninety- 
five  per  centum  of  copper  and  five  per  centum  of  tin  and  zinc,  in  such 
proportions  as  shall  be  determined  by  the  Director  of  the  Mint.  The 
weight  of  the  one-cent  piece  shall  be  forty-eight  grains.  (R.  S.  Sec- 
tion 3515.) 

COINAGE    DISCONTINUED. 

THREE  CENT  NICKEL.     Authorized  by  the  Act  of  March  3, 

1865,  (13  Stat.,  p.  517)  The  alloy  for  the  three  cent  pieces  shall  be  of 
copper  and  nickel,  to  be  composed  of  three- fourths  copper  and  one- 
fourth  nickel.  The  weight  of  the  three  cent  piece  shall  be  thirty  grains. 
(R.  S.  Section  3515).  Coinage  discontinued  by  the  Act  of  September 
26,  1890.     (26  Stat.,  p.  48;). 

TWO  CENT  BRONZE.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  April  22, 
1864,  ([3  Stat.,  p.  54).  The  standard  weight  to  be  ninety-six  grains,  or 
one-fifth  (.(f  one  ounce  troy,  to  be  composed  of  ninety-five  per  centum 
of  copper,  and  five  per  centum  of  tin  and  zinc.  (Ibid).  Coinage  dis- 
continued by  the  Act  of  February  12,  1873,  (R.  S.  Section  3515.) 

ONE  CENT  COPPER.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  July  6,  1787. 
Authorized  to  be  coined  (by  the  United  States  Mint)  by  the  Act  of 
April  2,  1792  (i  Stat.,  p.  248).  To  be  of  the  value  of  the  one  hundredth 
part  of  a  dollar,  and  to  contain  eleven  penny-weights  of  copper.  (Ibid). 
Coinage  discontinued  by  the  Act  of  February  21,  1857,  (i  i  Stat.,  p.  63). 

ONE  CENT  NICKEL.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  February  21, 
1857,  (i  I  Stat,  p.  163).  The  standard  weight  to  be  seventy-two  grains, 
or  three  twentieths  of  one  ounce  troy,  and  to  be  composed  of  eicjhty- 
eight  per  centum  of  copper  and  twelve  per  centum  of  nickel.  (Ibid). 
Coinage  discontinued  by  the  Act  of  April  22,  1864.     (13  Stat.,  p.  54) 

HALF  CENT  COPPER.  Authorized  by  the  Act  of  April  2, 
1792,  (i  Stat.,  p.  248)  To  be  of  the  value  of  half  a  cent,  and  to  con- 
tain five  penny-weights  and  half  a  penny-weight  of  copper.  (Ibid). 
Coinage  discontinued  by  the  Act  of  February  21,  1857.  (ri  Stat,  p.  63.) 

PURCHASE  OF  UNCURRKNT  GOLD  COINS. 
(Department  Circular  No.  1  14  of  July  15,  1892). 

Mutilated  or  orthei  wise  uncurrent  United  States  gold  coins,  of  any 
denomination,  will  be  received  at  any  of  the  mints  or  assay  offices  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  value  of  the  fine  gold  contained  will  be  paid  to 
the  depositor  at  the  rate  of  $20.67  per  ounce  fine,  or  ;$  18.60  per  ounce 
standard  (.900  fint). 

Returns  for  mutilated  coins  will  be  made  by  check  payable  to  the 
order  of  the  depositor,  unless  remittances  by  express  or  registered  mail 
are  preferred.  In  either  case  the  payments  will  be  at  the  depositor's 
exnense  and  risk. 


43 
PURCHASE  OF  UNCURRENT  SILVER  COINS. 

(Department  Circular  No.  15  of  January  30,  1892.) 

The  Superintendents  of  the  Mints  at  Philadelphia,  San  Francisco, 
New  Orleans,  and  Carson  will  purchase,  when  presented  in  sums  of 
thrte  dollars  and  upwards,  mutilated  and  uncurrent  United  States  silver 
coin  at  the  price  fi.xed  by  the  Director  of  the  Mint  for  silver  contained 
in  gold  deposits. 

Uncurrent  coins  should  be  transmitted  to   the   mints   by  registered 

mail  or  express 
(charges  prepaid). 
The  value  will  be 
returned  in  the 
same  manner  at  the 
seller's  expense  and 
risk. 

NOTE.  Muti- 
lated minor  coin 
(copper,  bronze,  or 
copper-nickel)  will 
neither  be  redeemed 
nor  purchased. 

LIGHT(VVEIGHT) 
GOLD  COINS. 

The  Secretary  o' 
the  Treasury,  under 
date  of  July  9,  1886, 
issued  the  follow- 
ing instructions  to 
the  Treasurer: 

"  You  are  hereby 
in.-tructed  on  and 
after  August  i. 
I  886,  to  reject,  and 
place  a  distin- 
guishing mark  upon 
all  gold  coins  of  the 
United  States  pre- 
sented at  your  counters  for  deposit,  which  may  be  found  below  the 
standard  weight  and  limit  of  tolerance  provided  by  law  for  the  single 
piece.  Although  the  law  makes  such  coins  a  legal  tender  'at  valuation 
in  proportion  to  their  actual  weight,'  it  is  found  to  be  impracticable  for 
public  officers,  generally,  who  receive  them  to  determine  the  exact 
valuation. 

"  The  true  value  of  light  weight  gold  coins  can  only  be  ascertained 
at  the  United  States  Mints  at  Philadeljihia,  New  Orleans,  and  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  the  United  States  A^say  Office  at  New  York,  where  they  will 


%07l4;<=.^iT 


I"RI:SII>KNT    FIRST    .NATIONAL    HANK.    KAI.AMAZ( 


44 

be  received,  their  value  determined,  and  proper  amount  of  coins  of  legal 
weight,  or  a  check  therefor,  returned. 

"  This  action  is  taken  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  testing  the  same 
coin  more  than  once,  experience  having  shown  that  when  a  light  weight 
coin  is  handed  back  to  a  depositor  without  placing  thereon  some  dis- 
tinguishing mark,  a  cashier  or  teller  may  in  the  course  of  business 
handle  and  reweigh  the  same  coin  several  times." 

On  August  23,  1886,  the  foregoing  instructions  were  so  modified 
as  to  authorize  the  placing  of  a  distinguishing  mark  on  all  gold  coins 
which  fall  below  the  "  least  current  weight,"  as  shown  by  the  set  of 
least  current  weights  provided  for  the  purpose,  instead  of  below  the 
"standard  weight  and  limit  of  tolerance." 

UNITED  STATES  CURRENCY.— LEGAL  TENDER. 

DEFINITION  OF  THE  TERM  LEGAL  TENDER.  "  Money 
of  a  character  which  by  law  a  debtor  may  require  his  creditor  to  receive 
in  payment  in  the  absence  of  any  agreement  in  the  contract  or  obliga- 
tion itself"     (Bouvier's  Law  Dictionary). 

GOLD  COINS.  The  gold  coins  of  the  United  States  are  a  legal 
tender  in  all  payments  at  their  nominal  value  when  not  below  the 
standard  weight  and  limit  of  tolerance  provided  by  law  for  the  single 
piece,  and,  when  reduced  in  weight  below  such  standard  and  tolerance, 
are  a  legal  tender  at  valuation  in  proportion  to  their  actual  weight. 
(Act  of  February  12,  1 873,  17  Stat.,  p.  426,  R.  S.,  Section  3585). 

STANDARD  SILVER  DOLLARS  are  a  legal  tender  at  their 
nominal  value  for  all  debts  and  dues,  public  and  private,  except  where 
otherwise  expressly  stipulated  in  the  contract,  (.^ct  of  February  28, 
1878,  20  Stat ,  p.  2c ). 

SUBSIDIARY  SILVER  COIN.  The  silver  coins  of  the  United 
States  of  smaller  denominations  than  one  dollar  are  a  legal  tender  in  all 
sums  not  exceeding  ten  dollars,  in  full  payment  of  all  dues,  public  and 
private.     (Act  of  June  9,  1879,  ^i  Stat.,  p.  457). 

MINOR  COIN  (coin  of  copper,  bronze,  or  copper-nickel).  Minor 
coins  are  a  legal  tender  at  their  nominal  value  for  any  amount  not  ex- 
ceeding twenty-five  cents  in  any  one  payment.  (Act  of  February  12, 
1873.  17  Stat ,  p.  426). 

UNITED  STATES  NOTES  (known  as  legal  tender  notes,  or 
"  Greenbacks.")  They  are  a  legal  tender  in  payment  of  all  debts,  public 
and  private,  within  the  United  States,  except  duties  on  imports  and 
interest  on  the  public  debt.  (Act  of  March  3,  1863,  12  Stat.,  p.  711, 
R.  S.,  Section  3588). 

Section  3  of  Act  of  January  14,  1875,  (18  Stat.,  p.  296),  provided 
that,  on  and  after  January  i,  1879,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  should 
redeem,  in  coin,  the  United  States  legal  tender  notes  then  outstanding, 
on  their  presentation  for  redemption  at  the  office  of  the  Assistant  Treas- 
urer  U.  S.,  New  York,  in  sums  of  not  less  than  fifty  dollar.*;. 

Treasury  Dcjiartment  circular  letter  No.  141,  of  December  21, 
1878,  addressed   to   Officers   of  Custom*^,   authorized   them,  by   reason 


45 

of  the  foregoing  Act,  to  recei\e  United  States  notes  in  payment  of 
duties  on  imports,  on  and  after  January  i,  1879. 

DEMAND  TREASURY  NOTES  authorized  by  the  Act  of  July 
17,  1 86 1,  (12  Stat.,  p.  259),  and  the  Act  of  h'ebruary  12,  1862,  (12  Stat., 
p.  338),  are  lawful  nioney  and  a  legal  tender  in  like  manner  as  United 
States  notes.     (R.  S.,  Section  3589). 

ONE  AND  TWO  YEAR  NOTES  OF  1863.  These  note.s,  re- 
dtemable  one  year  from  date  and  two  years  from  date,  bearing  interest 
at  five  per  centum  per  annum,  are  a  legal  tender  for  their  face  value, 
exclusive  of  interest.     (Act  of  March  3,  1863,  12  Stat,  p.  710). 

COMPOUND  INTEREST  NOTES  These  notes  weie  payable 
at  any  time  after  three  years  from  date,  and  bearing  interest  not  exceed- 
ing seven  and  three-tenths  per  centum,  payable  in  lawful  money  at 
maturity,  or,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  semi- 
annually; and  such  of  them  as  ."-hould  be  made  payable,  principal  and 
interest,  at  maturity,  to  be  a  legal  tender  to  the  same  extent  as  United 
Sates  notes  for  their  face  value,  excluding  interest.  (Act  of  June  30, 
1864,  13  Stat.,  p.  218). 

TREASURY  NOTES  OF  1890  are  a  legal  tender  in  payment  of 
all  debts,  public  and  private,  except  when  otherwise  expressly  stipulated 
in  the  contract,  and  are  receivable  for  customs,  taxes,  and  all  public 
dues.     (Act  of  July  14.  1890,  26  Stat.,  p.  289). 

COLUMBIAN  HALF  DOLLARS  are  a  legal  tender  to  the  same 
extent  as  subsidiary  silver  coin,  i.  e.,  ten  dollars  in  any  one  payment. 
(Act  of  August  5,  1892,  27  Stat.,  p   389). 

COLUMBIAN  QUARTERS  are  a  legal  tender  to  the  same  extent 
as  subsidiary  silver  coin,  i.  e.,  ten  dollars  in  any  one  payment.  (Act  of 
March  3,  1893,  27  Stat.,  p.  586). 

UNITED  STATES  CURRENCY.— NOT  LEGAL  TENDER. 

GOLD  CERTIFICATES  are  not  a  legal  tender.  They  are  re- 
ceivable for  customs,  taxes,  and  all  public  dues.  (Act  of  July  12,  1882, 
22  Stat.,  p.  165). 

SILVER  CERTIFICATES  are  not  a  legal  tender.  They  are  re- 
ceivable for  customs,  taxes,  and  all  public  dues.  (Act  of  February  28, 
1878,  20  Stat,  p.  25). 

NATIONAL  BANK  NOTES  are  not  a  legal  tender.  They  are 
receivable  at  par  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States  in  payment  of  taxe^, 
excises,  public  lands,  and  all  other  dues  to  the  United  States,  except 
duties  on  imports;  and  also  for  all  salaries  and  other  debts  and  demands 
owing  by  the  United  States  to  individuals,  corporations,  and  associations 
within  the  United  States,  except  interest  on  the  public  debt,  and  in 
redemption  of  the  national  currency.  (Act  of  June  3,  1864,  13  Stat., 
p.  106,  R.  S.,  Section  51 82). 

TRADE  DOLLARS  are  not  a  legal  tender.  By  the  Act  of 
February  12,  1873,(17  Stat  ,  p.  424).  they  were  legal  tender  at  their 
nominal  value  for  any  amount  not  exceeding  five  dollars  in  any  one 
payment,  but  under  date  of  July  22,  1876,  (19  Stat.,  p.  215).  it  was 
enacted  that  the  trade  dollar  should  not  thereafter  be  a  legal  tender. 


46 

The  Act  of  March  3,  1887,  (24  Stat.,  p.  634),  provided  that  all 
trade  dollars  should  be  presented  for  redemption  within  a  period  of  six 
months  after  the  passage  of  said  Act.  Said  coins  are  not  now  redeem- 
able, but  will  be  purchased  as  bullion  in  the  same  manner  as  mutilated 
or  other  uncurrent  silver  coin,  by  the  United  States  Mints  at  Philadel- 
phia, New  Orlean-;,  Carson,  and  San  Francisco. 

FRACTIONAL  CURRENCY  is  not  a  legal  tender.  NOTE.  It 
was  receivable  for  postage  and  revenue  stamp'^,  and  also   in    payment   of 


(.ASIIUK    1   IKM     NATIONAI.    HANK,    K  AIAM  A/. 


any  dues  to  the  United  States  less  than  five  dollars,  except  duties  on 
imjjorts.     (Act  of  March  3,  1.S63,  12  Stat.,  p.  711). 

1*'()RP:IGN  gold  coins  arenotalegal  tender  in  payment  of 
debts.     (Act    of  1^'ebruary  2r,  1847,  11  Stat., p.  163,  R.  S.,  Section  3584). 

I'^OREIGN  SILX'ER  COINS  are  not  a  legal  tender  in  payment  of 
debts.     (Act  of  February  21.  1857.  i  i  Stat.,  p.  163,  R.  S.,  Section  3584). 


47 

CONTINENTAL  CURRENCY.  The  question  has  been  raised 
and  disputed  as  to  whether  what  was  called  the  "Continental  Currency," 
issued  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution  by  the  old  government,  was 
or  was  not  a  legal  tender.  The  facts  appear  to  be  that  while  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  did  not  by  any  ordinance  attempt  to  give  it  that 
character,  they  asked  the  States  to  do  so,  and  all  seem  to  have  complied 
except  Rhode  Island.  The  Continental  Congress  only  enacted  that  the 
man  who  refused  to  take  the  money  should  be  deemed  an  enemy  of  his 
country.  ("The  National  Loans,"  by  Rafael  A.  Bayley,  Treasury  De- 
partment;  prepared   for  the  Tenth  Census). 

LEGAL  TENDER  CASES.  Agamst  constitutionality,  Hepburn 
V.  Griswold,  8  Wall,  603.  For  constitutionality,  Knox  v.  Lee,  12  Wall, 
457:   Parker  V.  Davis,  12  Wall,  559. 

OUTSTANDING  LIABILITIES. 

THREE- YEAR-LIMIT  FOR  CHECKS  AND  DRAFTS. 
Treasury  drafts,  disbursing  officers'  checks,  etc.,  outstanding  more  than 
tJiree  years  frojn  the  date  of  issue,  are,  at  the  end  of  each  fiscal  year,  de- 
posited to  the  credit  of  the  Treasurer  U.  S.  on  account  of  appropriation 
"Outstanding  Liabilities."  They  are  covered  into  the  Treasury  by  what 
are  known  as  COVERING-IN-WARRANTS  to  the  credit  of  said 
appropriation,  and  to  the  personal  credit  of  the  payees  of  said  drafts  and 
checks,  to  await  proper  claims  for  their  payment. 

Drafts  and  checks  of  this  nature  should  be  sent  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  who  will  have  them  examined  by  the  proper  accounting 
officer,  and  then  referred  to  the  Auditor  for  the  Treasury  Department 
for  examination  and  settlement. 

GOVERNMENT  BONDS. 

{From  Public  Debt  Statement  January  2,  1S95.) 

OrTST.^NDIXO 
Am'T  ISSrED  JANT.-VRV 

Funded  Loan  of  1S91,  Acts  of  July  14,  1870,  and  Jan.  '•  iS95- 

20,    iSjr,   at  44   per  cent.,   continued   at  2  per 

cent..  Option,  U.  S.,  Interest  payable  to  M  ,  J., 

S.,  and   D (4 '^s)  $250,000,000     5  25,364,500 

Funded  Loan  of  1907,  Acts  of  July  14,  1870,  and  Jan. 

20,  1871,  at  4  percent.,  redeemable  July  i,  1907, 

Interest  payable  to  J.,  A.,  J.,  and  0 740,883,500      5;9,622,i5o 

Refunding  Certificates,  Act  of  Feb.  26,  1879,  at  4  per 

cent.,  interest  payable  to  J.,  A.,  J.,  and  0 40,012,750  56.480 

Loan  of  1904,    Act  of  Jan.    14,    1875,    at  5  per  cent., 

redeemable  Feb.  i,  1904,  interest  payable  to  F. , 

M.,  A.,  and  N "... 94.125,000        94.125,000 

Aggregate   of   Interest-Bearing    Debt,    exclusive   of 

United  States  Bonds  issued  to  Pacific  Railroads 

as  stated  below 11,125.021,250     5679,168,130 

BONDS  ISSUED  IN  AID  OF  TIIF,  CONSTRUCTION  OF  THK  SEVERAL 
PACIFIC  RAILROADS. 

I'RI.VCII'AI- 

Name  of  Railway.  OrrsTANniNf; 

JA.V.    I.   IS9S. 

Central  Pacific  $  25,885.120 

Kansas  Pacific 6,303,fxxD 

Union  Pacific 27,236.512 

Central  Branch,    U.  P i,6oo,(xx3 

Western  Pacific 1,970,560 

Sioux  City  and   Pacific 1,628,320 

Totals $  64,623,512 


48 
REGULATIONS  AS  TO  GOVERNMENT  BONDS. 

BONDS  FOR  REDEMPTION.  Should  be  sent  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury. 

BONDS  TO  SECURE  DEPOSITS.  Should  be  sent  to  the 
Treasurer. 

BONDS  TO  SECURE  CIRCULATION.  Should  be  sent  to  the 
Comptroller  of  the  Currency. 

BONDS  FOR  PURCHASE.  Should  be  sent  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  but  not  until  offer  has  been  made  to,  and  accepted  by, 
that  officer. 

BONDS  FOR  ASSIGNMENT(TRANSFER  AND  REGISTRY). 
Where  it  is  desired  to  assign  or  transfer  bonds  on  the  books  of  the 
Treasury  Department,  they  should  be  sent  to  the  Register  of  the 
Treasury. 

COUPON  BONDS  TO  BE  EXCHANGED  INTO  REGIS- 
TERED BONDS.     Should  be  sent  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

REGISTERED  BONDS  CANNOT  BE  EXCHANGED  INTO 
COUPON   BONDS. 

LOST  REGISTERED  BONDS.  In  case  of  the  loss  of  registered 
bonds  send  notice  with  numbers  and  description,  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  who  will  direct  that  the  lost  bonds  be  entered  upon  the 
caveat  list. 

LOST  COUPON  BONDS,  U.  S.  NOTES,  AND  COUPONS. 
The  Government  cannot,  and  will  not,  undertake  to  protect  the  owners. 

DESTROYED  AND  DEFACED  BONDS.  Address  all  com- 
munications on  these  subjects  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

MUTILATED  COUPONS.  Will  not  be  paid  at  the  Sub-Treas- 
uries, but  must  be  sent  to  the  Treasurer  U.  S. 

WITHDRAWAL  OF  BONDS  HELD  TO  SECURE  CIRCU- 
LATION. Send  correspondence  on  this  subject  to  the  Comptroller  of 
the  Currency. 

WITHDRAWAL  OF  BONDS  HELD  TO  SECURE  DE- 
POSITS. Address  all  correspondence  on  this  subject  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury. 

DISBURSING  OFFICERS'  CHECKS. 

DUPLICATE  CHECKS.  R.  S.  Section  3646  (as  amended  by 
Act  of  P'cbruary  16,  1885).  Whenever  any  original  check  is  lost,  stolen, 
or  destroyed,  disbursing  officers  and  agents  of  the  United  States  are 
authorized,  after  the  expiration  of  six  months,  and  within  three  years 
from  the  date  of  such  check,  to  issue  a  duplicate  check;  and  the  Treas- 
urer, assistant  treasurers,  and  designated  depositaries  of  the  United 
States  are  directed  to  pay  such  duplicate  checks,  upon  notice  and  proof 
of  the  loss  of  the  original  checks,  under  such  regulations  in  regard  to 
their  issue  and  payment,  and  upon  the  execution  of  such  bonds,  with 
sureties,  to  indemnify  the  United  States,  as  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
shall  prescribe.  This  section  shall  not  apply  to  any  check  exceeding  in 
amount  the  sum  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  di)llars. 


49 

R.  S.  Section  3647.  In  case  the  disbursing  officer  or  agent  by 
whom  such  lost,  destroyed,  or  stolen  original  check  was  issued,  is  dead, 
or  no  longer  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  proper  accounting  officer,  under  such  regulations  as  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  shall  prescribe,  to  state  an  account  in  favor  of  the  owner 
of  such  original  for  the  amount  thereof,  and  to  charge  such  amount  to 
the  account  of  such  officer  or  agent. 

BONDS  OF  INDEMNITY.  Bonds  of  Indemnity  are  furnished 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  these  cases  only;  Where  the  Bond 
is  for  the  issue  of  an  interest  check  or  Treasury  draft,  address  the 
Tieasurer  ff  the  United  States. 

PENSION  CHECKS  NOT  PAID  IN  90  DAYS.     All    pension 

checks  not  present- 
ed for  payment 
within  90  days 
from  the  date  of 
issue  must  be  sent 
to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Trea.^ury  (and 
not  to  the  U.  S. 
Treasure! ) for  auth- 
oiization  of  pay- 
ment. If  presented 
at  the  office  on 
which  drawn  with- 
out compliance  with 
this  requirement 
payiuoit  will  be  re- 
fused. 

POST     OFFICE 
WARRANTS. 

Post  Office  War- 
rants are  drawn  by 
the  Third  Assis- 
tant Postmaster 
General,  and  coun- 
tersigned by  the 
Aud  tor  for  the 
Post  Office  Depart- 
ment and  the  Treas- 
urer of  the  United  States.  Said  warrants  are  drawn  on  the  Treasury 
and  the  various  Sub-Treasuries. 

DUPLICATES.  Applications  should  be  addressed  to  the  Auditor 
for  the  Post  Office  Department,  who  will  furnish  the  blank  bond  of 
indemnity  and  give  the  necessary  insti  uctions. 

NUMBER  OF  NATIONAL   BANKS  IN  OPERATION. 

(F"rom  Report  of  Comptroller  of  Currency,  1894). 
The  records   of  the   Bureau   show  that   on  October  3 1    the  total 
number  of  national  banks  in    operation    was    3,756,    with    an    authorized 


c:^»^= 


:C£^,f-t:sJ^  xyr^^^^ 


t.  Asmi  K  Tin; 


i.\s:n    NAT  I 


1N.\1.    TANK.    MII.W  \tKi:i-; 


50 

capital  stock  of  $672,671,365,  represented  by  7,955.076>3  shares  (.f 
stock  owned  by  287,842  shareholders,  thus  giving  to  each  bank  in  the 
system  an  average  capital  stock  of  $179,092,  with  2,1  17  shares  and  76 
shareholders. 

In  this  total  number  of  banks  in  the  system  Pennsylvania  leads 
with  406;  New  York  follows  with  334;  Massachusetts  is  next  with  267, 
and  the  three  following  in  order  of  numbers  are  Ohio,  246;  Texas,  218; 
and  Illinois,  217.  In  the  item  of  capital  stock  Massachusetts  is  first, 
with  $97,992,500,  with  the  several  States  following  next  in  the  order 
named,  viz.:  New  York,  $87,346,060;  Pennsylvania,  $74,168,390; 
Ohio,  $45,240,100;  Illinois,  $38,506,000;  Texas,  $23,255,000;  Con- 
necticut, $22,791,070,  and  Missouri,  $20,840,000. 

On  October  2,  1894,  the  date  of  their  last  report  of  condition,  the 
total  resources  of  the  3,755  banks  then  reporting  were  $3,473,922,055.27, 
of  which  their  loans  and  discounts  aggregated  $2,007,122,191.30,  and 
money  of  all  kinds  in  bank,  $422,428,192.45.  Of  their  liabilities, 
$1,728,418,819.12  represented  indixidual  deposits,  $334,121,082.10  sur- 
plus and  net  undivided  profits,  and  $172,33  1,978  circulating  notes  out- 
standing. The  total  amount  of  circulation  of  nati  -"nal  banks  October 
31,  as  shown  by  the  books  of  the  office,  was  $207,472,603,  a  net 
decrease  during  the  year  cf  $1,741,563,  and  a  gross  decrease  of  $8,614,- 
864  in  circulation  secured  by  a  deposit  of  b(ind<. 

THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  A  NATIONAL  BANK.  When 
any  person  advises  the  office  of  the  Comptroller  cf  the  Currency  that  he 
contemplates  organizing  a  bank,  he  is  written  to  and  requested  to  file 
there  a  formal  notice  setting  forth  the  name  of  the  place  in  which  it  is 
proposed  to  locate  the  bank,  the  title  by  which  the  bank  is  to  be  known, 
and  the  names  of  five  or  more  of  the  persons  who  propose  to  take  stock 
therein.  The  object  of  this  notice  is  to  enable  the  Comptroller  to  reserve 
for  the  persons  the  title  selected  so  as  to  prevent  the  confusion  and 
difficulties  that  would  arise  from  the  selection  of  a  title  which  could  not 
be  approved.  When  this  notice  isfiied,  the  persons,  if  they  so  desire,  are 
furnished  with  blank  forms  to  be  used  in  affecting  an  organization, and  the 
title  which  they  have  selected,  if  it  is  approved,  is  reserved  for  them  for 
a  reasonable  period.  The  forms  sent  include  articles  of  association, 
organization  certificate,  certificate  upon  which  officers  and  directors  are 
to  set  forth  the  facts  of  which  it  is  necessary  for  the  Comptroller  to 
inform  himself  before  authorizing  the  bank  to  begin  business;  oaths  cf 
directors,  and  order  for  circulating  notes.  When  these  papers  are 
returned  to  this  office  executed,  they  are  carefully  examined  to  see  that 
they  are  in  due  form,  and  if  any  errors  are  f  )und  therein  these  errors  are 
pointed  out  and  the  jiapers  sent  back  to  the  corporation  for  correction  or 
completion,  as  the  case  maybe  If  all  the  paj^ers  are  found  duly  correct, 
this  fact  is  certified  to  the  bond  clerk,  who  then  sends  to  the  Register  of 
the  Treasury,  for  transfer  upon  the  books  of  the  Department,  the  bonds 
which  have  been  forwarded  to  this  office  for  the  account  (  f  the  bank. 

When  this  transfer  has  been  made,  and  the  bonds  have  been  deposited 
with  the  Treasurer,  the  certificate  of  the  Comptroller,  authorizing  the 
bank  to  begin  business,  is  issued. 


5^ 
RKSERVI-:  CITIES. 

"LAWFUL-MOXEY  RESKR\'K"  PRESCRIBED.  Every  na- 
tional banking  association  in  eiilier  of  the  followin^r  cities  :  Albany,  Balti- 
more,Boston,  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  Cleveland,  Detroit.Louisville.Milvvaukee, 
New  Orleans,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburg,  Saint  Louis,  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  Washington,  shall  at  all  times  have  on  hand,  in  lawful  money 
of  the  United  States,  an  amount  equal  to  at  least  twenty-five  per  centum 
of  the  aggregate  amount  of  its  notes  in  circulation  and  its  deposits;  and 
every  other  association  shall  at  all  times  have  on  hand,  in  lawful  money 
of  the  United  States,  an  amount  equal  to  at  least  fifteen  per  centum  of  the 
aggregate  amount  of  its  notes  in  circulation  and  of  its  deposits.  When- 
ever the  lawful  money  of  any  association  in  any  of  the  cities  named  shall 
be  below  the  amount  of  twenty-five  per  centum  of  its  circulation  and 
deposits,  and  whenever  the  lawful  money  of  any  other  association  shall 
be  below  fifteen  per  centum  of  its  circulation  and  deposits,  such  association 
shall  not  increase  its  liabilities  by  making  any  new  loans  or  discounts 
otherwise  than  by  discounting  or  purchasing  bills  of  exchange  payable  at 
sight,  nor  make  any  dividend  of  its  profits  until  the  required  proportion, 
between  the  aggregate  amount  of  its  outstanding  notes  of  circulation  and 
deposits  and  its  lawful  money  of  the  United  States,  has  been  restored. 
And  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency  may  notify  an  association,  whose 
lawful  money  reserve  shall  be  below  the  amount  above  required  to  be 
kept  on  hand,  to  make  good  such  reserve  and  if  such  association  shall 
fail  for  thirty  days  thereafter  so  to  make  good  its  reserve  of  lawful  money, 
the  Comptroller  may,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury',  appoint  a  receiver  to  wind  up  the  business  of  the  association,  as 
provided  in  section  fifty-two  hundred  and  thirty-four.  (R.  S.  Section  5  1 9 1 ). 

WHAT  MAY  BE  COUNTED  TOWARDS  THE  "  LAWFUL- 
MONEY"  RESERVE.  Three-fifths  of  the  reserve  of  fifteen  per 
centum  required  by  the  preceding  section  to  be  kept;  may  consist  of 
balances  due  to  an  association,  available  f>ir  the  redemption  of  its  circulat- 
ing notes,  from  associations  approved  by  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency, 
organized  under  the  act  of  June  three,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-four, 
or  under  this  Title,  and  doing  business  in  the  cities  of  Albany,  Balti- 
more, Boston,  Charleston,  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  Detroit,  Louis- 
ville, Milwaukee,  New  Orleans,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Pittsburg, 
Richmond,  Saint  Louis,  San  Francisco,  and  Washington.  Clearing- 
house certificates,  representing  specie  or  lawfulmoney  specially  deposited 
for  the  purpose,  of  any  clearing-house  association,  shall  also  be  deemed 
to  be  lawful  money  in  the  possession  of  any  association  belonging  to 
such  clearing-house  holding  and  owning  such  certificate,  within  the 
preceding  section.     (R.  S.,  Section  5192). 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasur\-  may  receive  United  States  notes  on 
deposit,  without  interest,  from  anv  national  banking  association,  in  sums 
of  not  less  than  ten  thousand  dollars,  and  issue  certificates  therefor  in 
such  form  as  he  may  prescribe,  in  denominations  of  not  less  than  five 
thousand  dollars,  and  payable  on  demand  in  United  States  notes  at  the 
place  where  the  deposits  were  made.  The  notes  so  deposited  shall  not 
be  counted  as  part  of  the  lawful-money  reserve  of  the   association  ;  but 


52 

the  certificates  issued  therefor  may  be  counted  as  part  of  its  lawful- 
money  reserve,  and  may  be  accepted  in  the  settlement  of  clearing-house 
balances  at  the  places  where  the  deposits  therefor  were  made.  (R.  S., 
Section  5  193). 

That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  authorized  and  directed  to 
receive  deposits  of  gold  coin  with  the  Treasurer  or  assistant  treasurers  of 
the  United  States,  in  sums  not  less  than  twenty  dollars,  and  to  issue 
certificates  therefor  in  denominations  of  not  less  than  twenty  dollars 
each,  corresponding  with  the  denominations  of  the  United  States  notes. 
The  coin  deposited  for  or  representing   the   certificates   of  deposit   shall 


J.  A    riiAi\iii';K, 

I'Ki  sim.NT  i)i;.\vi;i<  natio.nai,  i:.\nk,   i)1.nvi;k,  uoi.. 

be  retained  in  the  Treasury  for  the  payment  of  the  same  on  demand. 
Said  certificates  shall  be  receivable  for  customs,  taxes,  and  all  public 
dues,  and  when  so  leceived  may  be  re-issued;  and  such  certificates,  as 
also  silver  certificates,  when  held  by  any  national-banking  association, 
shall  be  counted  as  j)art  of  its  lawful  reserve;  and  no  national  banking 
association  shall  be  a  member  of  any  clearing-house  in  which  such  cer- 
tificates shall  not  be  receivable  in  the  settlement  of  clearing-house  bal- 
ances :     froviditf,  That  the  Secretary  o{  the  Treasury  shall  suspend  the 


53 

issue  of  such  ^old  certificates  whenever  the  amount  of  gold  coin  and  gold 
bullion  in  the  Treasury  reserved  for  the  redemption  of  United  States  notes 
falls  below  one  hundred  million  dollars ;  and  the  provisions  of  section 
fifty-two  hundred  and  seven  of  the  Revised  Statates  shall  be  applicable  to 
the  certificates  herem  authoiized  and  directed  to  be  issued,  (section  12 
of  Act  cf  July  12.  1882). 

PLACE  FOR  REDEMPTION  OF  CIRCULATING  NOTES. 
Each  association  organized  in  any  of  the  cities  named  in  section  fifty-one 
hundred  and  ninety-one  shall  select,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  an  associati*.  n  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
at  which  it  will  redeem  its  circulating  notes  at  par;  and  may  keep  one- 
half  of  its  lawful-money  re.'-erxe  in  cash  deposits  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Bit  the  foregoing  provision  ."^hall  not  apply  to  associations 
organized  ai  d  located  in  the  city  of  San  Francisco  for  the  purpose  of 
issuing  notes  pa)-able  in  gold.  Each  association  not  organized  within 
the  cities  named,  shall  .'-elect,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Comptroller, 
an  association  in  either  of  the  cities  named,  at  which  it  will  redeem  its 
circulating  notes  at  par.  The  Comptroller  shall  give  public  notice  of 
the  names  of  the  association  selected,  at  which  redemption  are  to  be 
made  by  the  respective  associations,  and  of  any  change  that  may  be 
made  of  the  association  at  which  the  notes  of  any  association  are  re- 
deemed. Whenever  any  association  fails  either  to  make  the  selection  or 
to  redeem  its  notes  as  aforesaid,  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency  ma>', 
upon  receiving  satisfactory  evidence  thereof,  appoint  a  receiver,  in  the 
manner  provided  fo-"  in  section  fifty-two  hundred  and  thirty-four, to  wind 
up  its  affairs.  But  this  section  shall  not  relieve  any  association  from  its 
liability  to  redeem  its  circnhting  notes  at  its  own  counter,  at  par,  in 
lawful  money  on  demai  d.     (R.  S,  Section  5195). 

ADDITIONAL  RESERVE  CITIES.  That  whenever  three- 
fourths  in  number  of  the  national  banks  located  in  any  city  of  the 
United  States  having  a  population  of  fifty  thousand  people  shall  make 
application  to  the  Comptroller  of  the  Curnncy,  in  writing,  asking  that 
the  name  of  the  city  in  which  such  banks  are  located  shall  be  added  to 
the  cities  named  in  sections  fifty-one  hundred  and  ninety-one  and  fifty- 
one  hundred  and  ninety-two  of  the  Revi.^ed  Statutes,  the  Comptroller 
shall  have  authority  to  grant  such  request,  and  e\'ery  bank  located  in 
such  city  shall  at  all  times  thereafter  ha\e  on  hand,  in  lawful  money  of 
the  United  States,  an  amount  equal  to  at  least  twenty-five  per  centum 
of  its  deposits,  as  provided  in  section  fifty-ore  hundred  and  ninety-one 
and  fifty-one  hundred  and  ninr ty-five  of  the  Revised  Statutes.  (Act  of 
March  3,  1887). 

CENTRAL  RESERVE  CITIES.  That  whenever  three-fourths 
in  number  of  national  banks  located  in  any  city  of  the  United  States 
having  a  population  of  two  hundred  thousand  people  shall  make  appli- 
cation to  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  in  writing,  asking  that  such 
city  may  be  a  central  reserve  city,  like  the  city  of  New  York,  in  which 
one-half  of  the  lawful-money  reserve  of  the  national  banks  located  in 
other  reserve  cities  may  be  deposited,  as  provided  in  section  fifty-one 
hundred  and  ninety-five  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  the   Comptroller   shall 


54 

have  authority,  with  the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  to 
grant  such  request,  and  every  bank  located  in  such  city  shall  at  all  times 
thereafter  have  on  hand,  in  lawful  money  of  the  United  States,  twenty- 
five  per  centum  of  its  deposits,  as  provided  in  section  fifty-one  hundred 
and  ninety-one  of  the  Revised  Statutes.     (Act  of  March  3,  1887). 

LIST  OF  CITIES,  CENTRAL  RESERVE,  (i)  New  Yoik 
City,  (2)  Chicago,  (3)  St.  Louis.  OTHER  RESERVE  CITIES.  ([) 
Boston,  (2)  Albany,  (3)  Brooklyn,  (4)  Philadelphia,  (5)  Pittsburg,  (6) 
Baltimore,  (7)  Washington,  (8)  New  Orleans,  (9)  Louisville,  (10)  Cm- 
cinnati,  (11)  Cleveland,  (12)  Detroit,  (13)  Milwaukee,  (14)  Des  Moines, 
(15)  St.  Paul,  (16)  Minneapolis.  (17)  Kansas  City,  (18)  St.  Joseph,  (19) 
Lincoln,  (20)  Omaha,  (21)  San  Francisco. 

NATIONAL  BANK  EXAMINERS. 

APPOINTMENT,  POWERS,  AND  DUTIES.  The  Comptroller 
of  the  Currency,  with  the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  shall, 
as  often  as  shall  be  deemed  necessary  or  proper,  appoint  a  suitable 
person  or  persons  to  make  an  examination  of  the  affairs  of  every  banking 
association,  who  shall  have  power  to  make  a  thorough  examination  into 
all  the  affairs  of  the  association,  and,  in  doing  so,  to  examine  any  of  the 
officers  and  agents  thereof  on  oath;  and  shall  make  a  full  and  detailed 
report  of  the  condition  of  the  association  to  the  Comptroller.  (R.  S. 
Section  5240). 

COMPENSATION.  All  persons  appointed  to  be  examiners  of 
national  banks  not  located  in  the  redemption  cities  specified  in  section 
five  thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of 
the  United  States,  or  in  any  one  of  the  States  of  Oregon,  California,  and 
Nevada,  or  in  the  Territories,  shall  receive  compensation  for  such  exam- 
ination as  follows.  For  examining  national  banks  having  a  capital  less 
than  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  twenty  dollars;  those  having  a  capital 
of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  and  less  than  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  twenty-five  dollars;  those  having  a  capital  of  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars  and  less  than  four  hundred  thousand  dollars,  thirty-five 
dollars ;  those  having  a  capital  of  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  and  less 
than  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  forty  dollars  ;  those  having  a  capital 
of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  and  less  than  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  fifty  dollars ;  those  having  a  capital  of  six  hundred  thousand  dollars 
and  over,  seventy-five  dollars ;  which  amount  .<«hall  be  assessed  by  the 
Comptroller  of  the  Currency  upon,  and  paid  by,  the  respective  association 
so  examined,  and  shall  be  in  lieu  of  the  compensation  and  mileage  here- 
tofore allowed  for  making  said  examinations;  and  persons  appointed  to 
make  examinations  of  national  banks  in  the  cities  named  in  section  five 
thousand  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  of  the  Revised  Satutes  of  the 
United  States,  or  in  any  one  of  the  States  of  Oregon.  Califorinia.  and 
Nevada,  or  in  Territories,  shall  receive  such  compensation  as  may  be 
fixed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  upon  the  recommendation  of  the 
Comptroller  of  the  Currency;  and  the  same  shall  be  assessed  and  paid 
in  the  manner  hereinbefore  provided.     (Ibid). 


SEMI-ANNUAL  DUTY  ON  CIRCULATION. 

DUTY.     There  is  due  from  every  national  bank,  in    the  months  of 
January  and  Jul\-  of  each   year,  a  tax   or  duty    of  one-half  of  one   per 


H.   W.   IIAYKS, 

TRKSIDICNT    PRESTON    NATIONAL    BANK, 


DKTRDIT,    MICH. 


centum  upon  the  average  amount  of  its  notes  in    circulation    during   the 

six  months  preceding  each  January  and  July.     (Section   5214,  R.  S.)    '| 

RETURN.      In  order  to  ascertain  the  amount  of  duty  due,  every 

national  bank  must,  within  the  first  ten  days  of  January  and  July  of  each 


56 

year,  make  a  return  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  upon  blanks 
furnished  by  him,  of  the  average  amount  of  its  notes  i)i  circulation  for  the 
six  months  next  preceding  tJic  first  day  of  January  and  July.  This  return 
must  be  subscribed  and  sworn  to  by  the  President  or  Cashier  cif  the  bank, 
and  a  failure  to  so  make  it  subjects  the  bank  to  a  penalty  of  two  hundred 
dollais 

HOW  TO  ASCERTAIN  THE  AVERAGE  CIRCULATION. 
To  ascertain  the  average  amount  of  notes  in  circulation,  the  following 
directions  should  be  closely  followed  : 

If  the  duty  is  due  in  January,  add  together  the  daily  balances  of 
notes  in  circulation  of  each  dnx-,  beginning  wiih  the  first  day  of  the  last 
preceding  July  and  including  December  3  I.  Divide  the  sum  thus  ob- 
tained by  184,  the  number  «.f  da\  s  f'om  Jul\'  i  to  December  31,  and 
the  quotient  will  be  the  average  amount  d  notes  m  circulation  for  the 
six  months  preceding  January  i. 

If  the  duty  is  due  in  July,  a  similar  calculation  is  made,  beginning 
with  the  first  day  of  the  last  prect  cling  Januaiy  and  including  June  30, 
but  dividing  the  sum  by  181,  the  number  of  days  from  January  i  to 
June  30,  except  in  leap  }  ears,  when  the  divisor  will  be  182.  For  each 
Sunday  and  holiday  the  balance  of  the  precedmg  business  day  should 
be  counted. 

The  same  result  may  be  obtained  by  banks  making  a  weekly  state- 
ment instead  of  daily  statements,  by  addmg  together  the  weekly  balances 
and  dividing  the  sum  by  the  number  of  weeks  in  the  half  year,  which 
will  be  2  5y  or  26  for  the  first  six  months,  and  26*  for  the  last  six 
months.  For  each  day  in  any  fractional  part  of  a  week,  counting  the 
one-seventh  of  the  weekly  balance  next   preceding  such  fractional  part. 

"NOTES  IN  CIRCULATION."  Extract  from  opinion  of  the 
Attorney-General,  rendered  December  2,  1894. 

"Bank  n^  tes  signed  and  actually  paid  out  over  the  country,  or 
otherwise  so  dealt  wiih  as  to  become  liabilities  of  the  bank,  are  "notes 
in  circulation."  But  notes  merely  held  in  the  vaults  of  the  bank, 
whether  signed  or  unsigned,  and  notes  so  signed  and  held  and  carried 
on  the  books  of  the  bank  are  not  its  "notes  in  circulation."  For  the 
same  reason,  notes  that  have  been  obligations  of  the  bank  but  cease  to 
be  so  and  return  and  remain  in  the  bank  for  whatever  period,  are  not, 
during  such  period  its  "notes  in  circulation." 

NEW  BANKS.  If  a  bank  is  organized  between  the  first  days  of 
January  and  July  or  between  July  first  and  January  first,  or  has  no  notes 
in  circulation  on  the  fir.'^t  day  of  January  or  July,  then  the  calculation 
should  begin  on  the  day  the  bankfirst  put  any  of  its  notes  in  circulation, 
and  continued  to  and  including  June  30th  or  December  31st,  as  the  case 
may  be  and  t/ie  sum  dri'idcd  bv  tJie  full  nund^cr  of  days,  iS i  or  iSf. 

BANKS  IN  LIQUIDATION.  The  liability  ceases  upon  the 
deposit  of  lawful  m^n'  y  to  retire  the  notes,  and  a  bank  in  liquidation, 
upon  dej)ositing  such  lawful  money,  begins  the  calculation  in  the  same 
manner  as  above  explained  and  continues  it  to  the  Hav  of  deposit  of  the 
lawful  moncv,  alwa>s  dividing  by  the  full  number  of  days  in  the  semi- 
annual period. 


57 

PAYMENT  OF  DUTY.  Payment  of  duty  must  be  made  in  one 
of  the  following  ways,  viz.: 

1st.  By  a  remittance  to  the  Treasurer  U.  S.  of  the  amount  in  law- 
ful money  or  notes  of  nationl  bank  or  by  a  draft  on  New  York  City,  for 
which  the  Treasurer  will  issue  his  certificate  of  deposit  in  duplicate  and 
send  the  duplicate  to  the  bank. 

2d.  By  depositing  the  amount  due  with  an  Assistant  Treasurer  of 
the  United  States  or  with  a  national  bank  depositary,  for  which  the 
Assistant  Treasurer  or  depositary  will  is^ue  to  the  bank  a  certificate  of 
deposit  in  triplicate,  the  original  of  which  the  bank  should  send  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  duplicate  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  United 
States,  and  retain  the  triplicate  as  its  voucher. 

SEMI-ANNUAL  DUTY  COLLECTED  FROM  NATIONAL 

BANKS. 

(From  Treasurer's  Report,  1894). 

On    Circulation,  fiscal  years   1864  to    1894,  inclusive,     $75,834,997.17 
On  deposits,  "  "       1864  to   1883,         "  60,940,067.16 

On  capital.  "  "       1864  to   1883.  "  7,855.887.74 


$I44,630.952.C7 
NOTE.     The   tax    on  capital    and  depo.>-it3    of  National  Banking 
Associations  was  repealed  by  the  act  of  March  3,  1883.  (22  Stat, p. 488, 
Supplement  R.  S.,  p.  404). 

NATIONAL  BANK  REDEMPTION  AGENCY. 

(Expenses  Reimbursed  by  National  Banks.) 

By  Section  3  of  the  Act  of  June  20,  1874.  (18  Stat.,  p.  123).  it  was 
provided  that  the  notes  issued  by  national  banks  might  be  presented  to 
the  Treasurer  U.  S  for  redemption,  etc.  By  the  Act  of  March  3,  1875 
(Ibid.,  p.  399),  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  into  effect  the  provisions  of 
the  first  named  act,  an  appropriation  was  made  for  the  force  so  employed 
in  the  Office  of  the  Treasurer. 

DUTIES.  The  business  of  the  National  Bank  Redemption  Agency 
consists  in  carrying  into  effect  the  provisions  of  the  Acts  of  Congress 
approved  June  20,  1874,  (18  Stat.,  p.  123),  July  12,  1882,(22  Stat,  p 
162).  and  July  14,  1 890,  (26  Stat.,  p.  289),  and  Section  5222  and  5229 
of  the  Revised  Statut'-s,  relating  to  the  redemption  of  national  bank 
notes  at  the  Treasury  uf  the  United  States,  of  which  the  following  are 
the  principal  features. 

Section  3  of  the  Act  of  Congress  approved  June  20,  1874.(18  Stat, 
p.  123),  provides  that  every  national  bank  shall  keep  on  deposit  in  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States  a  sum  of  lawful  money  equal  to  5  per 
centum  of  its  circulation,  to  be  held  and  used  for  the  redemption  of  its 
notes;  that  the  circulating  notes  of  the  banks  shall  be  redeemed  by  the 
Treasurer  on  presentation  and  charged  to  the  respective  a.ssociations  by 
which  they  were  issued  ;  that  the  redeemed  i.otes  shall  be  forwarded  to 
the  banks  of  i^sue,  but  if  any  of  the   notes  are  unfit   for  circulation  they 


58 

shall  be  delivered  to  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency  for  destruction 
and  replacement  with  new  notes;  and  that  the  banks  shall  re-imburse  to 
the  Treasury  the  charges  for  transportation  and  the  costs  of  assorting  the 
notes  redeemed.     Section  4  of  the  same  act  provides  that  any  bank  may 


I-RKD'K  rAHsr. 
|'ki;sii>i;ni'  tiii;  Wisconsin  national   i:\nk.   Mii.wArKii:.   wis. 

deposit  lawful  money  and  take  up  the  bonds  on  deposit  for  the  security 
of  an  ecjual  amount  of  circulation,  and  that  this  amount  of  its  notes  shall 
be  redeemed  at  the  Treasury  and  destroyed.  Section  3  of  the  Act  of 
March  3,  1875.  (18  Stat.,  p.  399),  requires  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 


59 

to  reimburse  tiic  i  ica.-5ury  lo  the  full  amount  expended  in  carrying  into 
affect  the  provisions  of  the  Act  c>f  June  20,  1874.  By  Section  6,  8, 
and  9,  of  the  Act  of  July  12,  1882,(22  Stat.,  p.  162),  these  provisions 
are  modified  in  some  ])articulars,  and  each  bank  is  required  at  the  end  of 
three  )  ears  from  the  date  C'fthe  extension  of  its  corporate  existence,  to 
dep  >sit  lawful  money  with  theTreasurer  sufficient  to  redeem  the  remain- 
der of  the  circulation  which  was  outstanding  at  the  date  of  the  extension. 
The  laws  relating  to  the  redemption  of  the  notes  of  banks  in  voluntary 
liquidation  or  insolvent  are  embodied  in  the  Revised  Statues  (Section 
5220  to  5242.) 

THE  EXPENSES  OF  THE  AGENCY.  The  expenses  of  the 
Agency,  including  the  salaiies  of  the  employes;  the  charges  for  trans- 
porting the  notes  to  Washington  in  sums  or  multiples  of  ;^  1,000,  and  for 
the  return  of  the  notes  fit  for  circulation  to  the  banks  of  issue;  and  all 
other  incidental  expenses,  are  passed  upon  by  the  accounting  officers  of 
the  Treasury,  and  paid  in  the  first  instance  out  of  regular  appropriations. 
After  the  close  of  each  fiscal  year  the  amount  so  expended  is  reimbursed  to 
the  Treasury,  as  provided  in  Section  3  of  the  Act  of  March  3,  1875,  (18 
Stat.,  p.  399).  by  deposit  as  a  miscellaneous  receipt,  and  assessed  upon 
the  several  banks  in  proportion  to  their  circulation  redeemed.  The 
assessments  are  computed  in  the  Agency  and  charged  on  its  books  to 
the  5  per  cent,  account  of  the  banks.  An  advice  is  sent  to  each  bank 
assessed,  showing  the  amount  of  its  notes  redeemed  and  the  rate  and 
amount  of  the  assessment. 

LOST  OR  STOLEN  NATIONAL  BANK  NOTES.  The  Act  of 
July  28,  1892,(27  Stat ,  p.  322)  provides.  "That  the  provisions  of  the 
Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States,  providing  for  the  redemption  of 
national  bank  notes,  shall  apply  to  all  national  bank  notes  that  have  been 
or  may  be  issued  to,  or  received  by,  any  national  bank,  notwithstanding 
such  notes  may  have  been  lost  by  or  stolen  from  the  bank  and  put  in 
circulation  without  the  signature  or  upon  the  forged  signature  of  the 
president  or  vice-president  and  cashier." 

MANUFACTURE,  ISSUE,  REDEMPTION,  AND  DESTRUCTION 
OF  NATIONAL  BANK  NOTES. 

ENGRAVING  AND  PRINTING  OF  NATIONAL  BANK  NOTES. 

Requisition  is  made  on  the  chief  of  Bureau  of  Plngraving  and 
Printing  by  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency  for  a  plate  and  impressions 
for  a  new  bank.  The  chief  makes  an  order  on  the  engraving  division 
fir  the  new  face-plate.  The  engraving  division  makes  the  face-plate  of 
the  appropriate  title  for  the  new  bank,  daily  depositing  it,  in  its  various 
stages  of  preparation  at  the  close  of  the  work,  with  the  custodian  of 
dies,  rolls,  and  plates.  The  impressions  comprise  a  plate  printed  tint, 
with  a  surface-printed  charter  number  of  bank  subsequently  placed  on 
it,  forming  the  back,  a  plate-printed  face,  and  surface-printed  seal  and 
charter  number  on  face.  The  tints  of  earh  denomination  of  all  banks 
are. alike,  varying  only  as  to  the  State  <  r  Territory  in  which  the  bank  is 
located.     To  facilitate  the  preparation  of  the  currency  when  ordered   for 


6o 

the  separate  banks,  the  tints  are  prepared  and  kept  in  the  vault  division 
as  stock  in  advance  of  such  orders.  When  the  Comptroller  of  the  Cur- 
rency makes  an  order  on  the  chief  of  Bmeau  for  a  new  plate  for  a 
national  bank,  in  the  event  of  its  bein<T  the  fir.^t  oiganized  in  its  State  oi 
Territory,  the  order  includes  the  tint-plates,  and  the  tints  are  prepared 
there  from  to  accomodate  the  future  orders  of  the  same  bank,  and  <  f 
any  others  that  may  be  subsequently  organized  in  the  same  State.  On 
an  order  of  the  chief  of  Bureau  the  engraving  divi.sion  makes  the  tint- 
plate  and  deposits  it  with  the  custodian  of  die>,  rolls,  and  plates.  The 
paper  for  the  tints  is  furnished  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  on 
rtquiMtion  (  f  the  wetting  branch,  and  prepared  for  printing.  On  order 
of  the  chief  of  Bureau  the  plate  branch  draws  the  plate  from  the  cus- 
todian of  dies,  roU.-^,  and  plates,  and  assigns  it  to  a  printer,  who  draws  the 
paper  from  a  wettini.^  branch  and  prints  the  tints.  These  are  passed  to 
the  examining  division,  wet  counted,dried.arrangedafter  drying, examined, 
counted,  packed  and  deposited  with  the  vault  keeper  for  safe-keeping 
until  redeemed  for  face  printing.  Pending  the  preparation  of  the  face- 
plate and  nearing  its  completion  the  chief  of  Bureau  makes  an  order  on 
the  plate  branch  to  print  the  faces,  and  on  the  surface  branch  to  print 
the  seals  and  charter  numbers  on  the  faces  and  the  charter  numbers 
combined  with  tints  to  form  the  back.  When  the  order  is  received  to 
print  the  faces,  the  wetting  branch  draws  the  tints  on  requisition  on  the 
examining  division,  and  prepares  them  to  receive  the  face  printing.  The 
plate  branch  draws  the  face-plate  from  the  custodian  of  dies,  rolls,  and 
plates,  assignes  a  printer,  who  draws  the  paper  from  the  wetting  branch 
and  prints  the  faces.  The  printed  faces  are  passed  to  the  examining 
division,  where  they  are  wet-counted,  dried,  arranged  after  drying,  ex- 
amined, recounted,  pressed,  and  again  counted.  They  are  then  forwarded 
to  the  numbering  division,  where  they  are  counted,  trimmed,  and  re- 
counted, receive  the  bank  number,  are  examined  and  counted,  receive 
the  Treasury  number,  examined  and  counted, and  delivered  to  the  surface 
branch.  In  the  surface  branch  the  work  is  counted  on  its  receipt,  and 
a  requisition  made  on  the  custodian  of  dies,  rolls,  and  plates  for  the 
charter  number  and  seal  forms.  The  charter  number  is  printed  on  the 
back,  and  the  impressions  examined  and  counted.  The  seal  is  printed 
on  the  face,  and  the  work  again  examined  and  counted,  and  then  packed, 
and  transmitted  to  the  vault  keeper  for  delivery  to  the  Comptroller  of 
the  Currency,  at  which  point  the  work  is  finally  disposed  of  by  the 
Bureau. 

ISSUl-:  OF  NATIONAL  BANK  NOTES. 

C0MPTR0LLI-:R  of  the  currency.  This  officer  makes 
requests  on  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing,  in  compliance  with 
orders  from  the  banks,  for  the  prei)aration  of  engraved  pla'es  for  the 
national  banks  and  the  printing  of  their  circulating  notes  therefrom,  to 
supply  not  only  the  first  i-<sue  to  them,  but  also  to  replace  the  destruction 
of  their  notes  as  they  occur. 

When  this  "  incomplate  currency"  is  received  from  the  Bureau  of 
Engraving  and  Printing,  it  is  examined,  tested,  and  counted,  a  record  of 


6i 

the  same  is  entered  on  the  books,  and  the  reserve  supply  is  stored  in  the 
vaults  in  sealed  packages.  The  retjuircd  amount  are  issued  to  the  banks, 
(after  being  counted  and  recorded  in  the  proper  books),  in  sealed  pack- 
ages, with  receipts  for  the  same,  which  are  forwarded  to  the  banks,  signed 
and  returned  by  them,  and  filed  in  the  office. 


iii:Riii:R r  i,.  o  itKii'.N, 

CASIIIKK    TKlCSroN    N  ATM  >.NAI,    ItANK.    DKTKOIT,    .MICH. 

trp:asurer  of  the  UxMted  states, 
procedure  in  redemption  of  national  bank 

NOTES.  The  notes  are  forwarded  by  banks  for  redemption  mostly 
through  the  United  .States  IC.xpress  Compan}\  under  a  contract  with  the 
United  States  for  their  transportation,  and  arc  received  and  receipted  for 
by  the  Superintendent  of  the  Redemption  Agency,  in  sealed  packages. 
Small  sums  are  received  by  mail, and  from  some  other  sources. 


62 

These  packages,  with  all  sums  coming  from  other  sources,  are 
deHvered  to  the  express  clerk,  and  are  by  him  entered  upon  a  register, 
the  entry  consisting  of  the  name  and  address  of  the  sender,  the  amount 
marked  upon  the  wrapper  of  the  package,  the  date  of  the  sender's  advice, 
and  the  serial  number  of  the  remittance.  The  footing  of  this  register  for 
each  day  shows  the  amonnt  received  for  redemption. 

The  packages  are  delivered  by  the  express  clerk  singly  to  the 
counters,  who  receipt  for  them  on  the  regester.  It  is  the  duty  of  the 
the  counters  to  open  the  package,  count  the  contents,  rejecting  all  notes 
not  the  genuine  issue  of  a  national  bank,  put  up  the  notes,  each  demoni- 
nation  separately,  in  straps  marked  with  the  remittance  number,  the 
amount  in  the  strap,  the  counter's  signature,  and  the  date  of  the  count, 
and  to  prepare  a  report  the  result  of  the  count  by  filling  in  a  blank  form. 
The  notes,  with  the  counter's  report, are  then  delivered  to  the  first  assort- 
ment clerk,  who  verifies  the  amount  by  inventorying  the  sums  marked 
on  the  straps,  and  gives  his  receipt  on  a  book  supplied  to  the  counter. 
When  the  count  of  one  package  is  completed,  and  the  money  delivered, 
the  counter  receives  another  package,  and  so  on  until  all  the  remittances 
on  hand  have  been  disposed  of. 

The  first  assortment  clerk,  from  the  counter's  reports,  makes  entry 
of  the  result  of  the  count  of  each  remittance  upon  a  register,  setting  out 
the  number  of  the  remittance,  the  amount  claimed  by  the  sender,  the 
amount  of  the  proceeds,  and  by  items  the  additions  and  deductions 
reconciling  the  count  with  the  amount  marked  on  the  package.  The 
footing  of  this  register  show  the  result  of  the  whole  count  for  each  day. 
The  counted  notes  remaim  in  the  custody  of  the  first  assortment 
clerk,  being  placed  in  a  safe,  which  is  locked  up  by  the  Superintendent 
until  the  morning  of  the  next  business  day,  when  they  are  apportioned 
among  the  first  assorters,  who  give  their  receipts  an  a  book. 

The  first  assorters  severally  verify  the  amounts  receipted  for  by 
making  an  inventory  of  the  parcels  and  counting  the  notes  in  each  strap. 
Their  next  duty  is  to  assort  the  notes  into  groups  of  banks  according 
to  an  alphabetical  arrangement  by  location  of  all  the  banks  that  have 
circulation  outstanding.  The  number  of  groups  at  this  time  is  seventy- 
two,  averaging  about  seventy  banks  each.  The  assortment  being  fin- 
ished, the  notes  in  each  group  are  counted  and  put  up  in  straps,  each 
strap  being  marked  with  the  number  of  the  group,  the  amount,  the 
assorter's  signature,  and  the  date.  Finaly  an  inventory  of  the  straps  is 
made  to  reconcile  the  total  with  the  amount  receipted  for,  and  the  notes 
arc  delivered  to  the  second  assortment  clerk,  who  also  makes  an  inven- 
tory by  strap,  and  gives  his  receipt  on  a  book  in   the  assorter's  hands. 

The  grouped  notes  arc  locked  up  in  the  custody  of  the  second 
assortment  clerk  in  the  manner  already  described,  and  on  the  next  busi- 
ness day  this  clerk  distributes  the  notes  by  groups  in  the  assorters' 
straps,  according  to  the  group  numbers  marked  on  the  straps  makes  into 
bundles  the  amounts  in  the  groups,  severally,  and  prepares  a  schedule  ot 
these  amounts.  The  notes  are  then  transferred  by  the  Teller  to  the 
vault  of  the  Agency,  where  the  bundles  are  checked  off  by  the  Super- 
intendent and  placed  in  compartments  assigned  to  the  groups  severally. 


63 

Each  day  the  notes  that  have  accumulated  in  a  number  of  groups — 
usually  five — are  taken  out  of  the  vault  by  the  Superintendent  and  the 
Teller  and  delivered  to  the  second  assortment  clerk,  who  opens  the 
bundles,  verifies  the  contents  of  each  by  inventory,  and  assorts  the 
notes  of  each  group  in  the  assorters'  straps  by  denominations,  lie 
enters  the  several  sums  by  denominations  and  groups  in  a  book,  and  the 
money  is  locked  up  in  his  custody  in  a  safe  by  the  Superintendent.  The 
following  day  the  accumulations  in  the  next  consecutive  groups  are 
taken  out  of  the  vault  in  the  same  way,  and  so  on.  The  intervals  be- 
tween successive  handling  of  money  in  the  same  group  depend  upon 
the  number  of  groups  handled  each  day. 

Next  morning  the  second  assortment  clerk  delivers  the  notes  in 
his  hands,  arranged  by  denominations  as  described,  to  the  second  as- 
sorters, taking  receipts  on  his  book.  The  second  assorters  first  verify 
by  count  the  correctness  of  the  sums  receipted  lor,  then  assort  the  notes 
by  bank  issue,  and  finally  count  out  the  amounts  found  for  each  bank. 
In  the  final  count  the  notes  that  under  the  various  provisions  of  law  are 
required  to  be  destroyed  are  separated  from  those  fit  for  circulation  that 
are  to  be  returned  to  the  banks  of  issue,  and  those  of  the  series  of  1882 
from  the  old  series.  The  notes  in  the  various  lots  are  put  up  in  different 
straps,  which  are  marked  with  the  number  of  the  bank  in  the  group, 
the  amount,  the  assorter's  signature,  and  the  date.  The  correctness  of 
the  count  is  then  verified  by  an  inventory  and  the  notes  are  delivered  to 
a  maker-up,  who  receipts  for  them  after  satisfying  himself  that  the  inven- 
tory is  correct.  The  amounts  delivered  to  the  several  makers-up  are 
placed  under  lock  in  a  safe  until  the  next  business  day. 

It  is  the  duty  of  a  maker-up  to  distribute  the  notes  of  the  group  in 
his  charge  according  to  the  marks  on  the  straps,  to  make  a  schedule  for 
each  class  of  the  notes  of  each  bank,  showing  the  amount  of  each 
demonination  and  the  total,  and  ti  fill  in  a  printed  list  of  the  banks  in 
the  group  with  the  totals  shown  by  the  schedules.  The  footings  of 
the  resulting  colums  of  figures  enable  him  to  test  the  correctness  of  his 
work.  The  notes  thus  prepared  in  packages,  with  the  schedules  ac- 
companying are  then  transferred  to  the  delivery  clerk  and  receipted  for.  A 
book  in  which  the  amounts  of  the  packages  have  been  entered  also  goes 
with  the  money. 

The  delivery  clerk  places  the  packages  in  the  hands  of  the  provers, 
one  or  more  at  a  time  to  the  same  person,  taking  receipts,  for  verification 
of  the  work  oftheassorter  and  maker-up.  This  completed, the  prover  signs 
and  dates  the  schedule,  securely  ties  the  notes  that  are  to  be  returned  to 
the  bank  of  issue,  and  carries  the  parcel  to  the  desk  of  the  sealer,  who 
wraps  and  seals  it  under  the  prover's  eye,  first  cancelling  the  notes  that 
are  to  be  destroyed  by  cutting  off  the  lower  corners.  The  package  is 
then  returned  by  the  prover  to  the  delivery  clerk,  who  gives  his  receipt. 
On  the  day  following  the  making  up  of  a  group  the  notes  are  delivered 
from  the  Agency  to  the  United  States  Exjiress  Company  or  the  Comp- 
troller of  the  Currency,  according  to  the  classification  rf  the  parcels, 
the  delivery  clerk  taking  receipts  in  favor  of  the  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States  as  redemption!  agent  on  blank  f^rm  previously  prepared 


64 

The  exceptions  to  this  course  are  in  the  case  of  banks  whose  redemp- 
tion account  is  overdrawn, and  of  amounLa  less  than  the  minimum  sum  put 
into  a  package.  In  the  former  case  the  deHvery  is  suspended  until  the 
account  is  made  good,  and  in  the  latter  the  notes  are  returned. 


II.  J.  uoi.i.isi):!-; 

CASHIER    OLD    NATIONAL    HANK,    (IK.XNI)    KAI'IDS,    MIOH. 

COMPTROLLER  OK  THE  CURRENCY. 

REDEMPTION  OF  THE  NATIONAL  BANK  CURRENCY. 
National  l^ank  Currency  is  received  by  the  Redemption  Division,  either 
direct  from  the  bank  of  issue,  the  United  States  Treasurer,  or  the 
National  Bank  Redemption  Agency.      The  daily  receipts  of  packages  of 


65 

currency,  which  come  sealed,  are  subject  to  count.  The  packages  re- 
ceived are  entered  on  a  register,  arranged  alphabetically  and  numeric- 
ally, and  entered  in  counter's  receipt  books  for  their  verification.  A 
schedule  is  made  of  each  package  and  series  of  currency  contained 
therein,  which  gives  charter-number  and  name  of  bank  and  number 
and  value  of  notes.  After  verification  the  curnncy  is  returned  to  the 
clerk  in  charge  of  the  register  who  gives  his  receipt  therefor  to  the 
counters.  The  schedules  are  exainined  and  name  of  agent  marked  on 
face  of  package  and  face  of  schedule.  The  packages  are  then  checked 
by  the  register  and  the  schedules  delivered  to  another  clerk,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  make  the  certificate  of  destruction,  which  contams 
the  aforementioned  information.  After  checking,  the  packages  are 
arranged  according  to  agents,  counted  and  verified  by  number  ot 
certificate  for  each  agent,  and  placed  in  boxes  in  the  vault  preparatory 
to  destruction  the  next  day.  The  schedules  made  by  the  counters 
are  used  by  the  bookkeepers  of  the  division  to  make  their  entries,  and 
after  being  verified  are  filed.  The  certificates  are  used  by  the  clerks  in 
making  up  each  day's  destruction,  and  are  finally  forwarded  to  the 
banks  of  issue. 

COMMITTEE    ON    DESTRUCTION. 

DESTRUCTION  OF  MUTILATED  NATIONAL  BANK 
NOTES:  Under  the  provisions  of  the  National  Bank  Act  (Section 
5184,  Revised  Statues)  a  committee  is  appointed  to  witness  and  certify 
to  the  destruction  of  mutilated  National  bank  notes.  The  committee 
consists  ot  four  persons,  one  appointed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
one  by  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  one  by  the  Treasurer  of  the 
United  States,  and  one  by  the  association. 

This  committee  meets  daily  at  2  p.  m.  in  the  Redemption  Division 
of  the  Office  of  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency.  One  member  reads 
from  the  certificate  the  name  of  the  bank,  one  calls  the  amount  from 
the  slip  on  the  package  of  money,  the  third  checks  the  amount  on  the 
book  in  the  presence  of  the  bank's  agent;  after  which  this  money  is 
placed  in  the  macerator  for  destruction,  and  the  certificates  are  signed 
by  the  committee  representing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the 
Treasurer  U.  S.,  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  and  the  bank's 
agent.  The  said  certificates  are  then  forwarded  to  the  various  banks 
represented,  there  being  from  two  hundred  to  three  hundred  certificates 
dail}-.  The  Macerator  is  located  in  the  sub-basement  of  the  Treasury 
Building.  The  notes  are  reduced  to  pulp  by  the  combined  action  of 
steam,  alkalies,  and  knives;  and  the  pulp  is  sold  under  contract. 

NATIONAL    BANK    DEPOSITARIES. 

APPLICATION  FOR  DESIGNATION  AS  UNITED 
STATES  DEPOSITARY:  Any  National  Bank  desiring  to  make 
application  for  designation  as  United  States  Depositary,  should  ad- 
dress the  Secretar)-  of  the  Treasur)-,  who  will  give  all  necessary 
information  and  instructions. 


66 

REGULATIONS  AS  TO  U.  S.  DEPOSITARIES:  All 
national  bankine^  associations,  designated  for  that  purpose  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  shall  be  depositaries  of  public  money, 
except  receipts  from  customs,  under  such  regulations  as  may  be  pre- 
scribed by  the  Secretary;  and  they  may  also  be  employed  as  financial 
agents  ot  the  Government;  and  they  shall  perform  all  such  reasonable 
duties,  as  depositaries  of  public  moneys  and  financial  agents  of  the 
Government  as  may  be  required  of  them.  The  Secretary'  of  the 
Treasur)'  shall  require  the  associations  thus  designated  to  give  satis- 
factory security,  by  the  deposit  of  United  States  bonds  and  other- 
wise, for  the  safe  keeping  and  prompt  payment  of  the  public  money 
deposited  with  them,  and  for  the  faithful  performance  of  their  duties 
as  financial  agents  of  the  Government.  And  every  association  so 
designated  as  receiver  or  depositary  of  the  public  money  shall  take  and 
receive  at  par  all  of  the  national  currency  bills,  by  whatever  associa- 
tion issued,  which  have  been  paid  into  the  Government  for  internal 
revenue,  or  for  loans  or  stocks.     (Section  5153  R.  S.) 

FUNCTIONS  OF  DEPOSITARIES:  The  national  banks 
serve  a  very  useful  purpose,  both  to  the  Government  and  the  public, 
more  especially  in  localities  where  there  is  not  a  Sub-Treasury,  by 
acting,  when  so  authorized  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  as 
depositaries  of  public  moneys  and  financial  agents  of  the  United 
States.  For  their  services  in  this  regard  they  receive  no  direct  com- 
pensation, and  are,  moreover,  required  to  give  satisfactory  security  for 
the  faithful  performance  of  their  duties  and  the  safe  custod}-  and 
prompt  payment  of  all  public  moneys  intrusted  to  them,  by  a  deposit 
with  the  Treasurer  of  a  sufficient  amount  of  United  States  bonds. 
(See  Section  5153  R.  S.) 

SERVICE  RENDERED  TO  GOVERNMENT:  As  Govern- 
ment depositaries,  the  national  banks  have  received,  stored  in  their 
vaults,  and  accounted  for  $5,356,625,801,  without  expense  to  the 
Government.  (Report  of  Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  1894).  It  may 
be  added  that  the  Government  has  never  lost  a  cent  of  deposits  of 
public  moneys  in  National  Bank  Depositaries,  while  the  savings  in 
the  transportation  of  funds  during  a  period  of  thirty  years  must  have 
amounted  to  a  verv  considerable  sum. 

NUMBER  OF  DEPOSITARIES:  On  January  i,  1895,  the 
number  of  national  banks  designated  as  depositaries  was  157.  The 
amount  of  bonds  held  by  said  banks  to  secure  deposits  of  public 
moneys,  on  the  same  date,  was  $15,001,000. 

MANUFACTURE,  ISSUE,    REDEMPTION   AND    DESTRUC- 
TION OF  UNITED  STATES   PAPER  CURRENCY. 
SECRETARY  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

GOVERNMI-NT  PAi^ER  MILL:  This  mill,  where  the  dis- 
tinctive paper  for  United  States  notes,  gold  and  silver  certificates. 
bonds,  checks  and  drafts  is  made,  is  under  >.he  supervision  of  an  em- 
ploye of  the  Loans  and  Currency  Division,  detailed  as  superintendent 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.     The  distinctive  paper   shipped   by 


67 

the  superintendent  of  the  null  to  the  Treasury  Department  is  under 
tile  custody  of  the  Loans  and  Currenc}'  Division,  where  it  is  examined 
and  counted. 

DISriNCnVE  TAPER:  The  examination  and  count  of  the 
distinctive  paper  for  United  States  securities  and  for  the  printincj  of 
internal  revenue  stamps  is  a  critical  one,  involving  the  detection  and 
exclusion  of  all  sheets  inferior  in  quality  or  weight  to  the  paper 
adopted  as  the  standard  sheet,  or  which  contain  imperfections  of  any 
kind.  In  the  case  of  silk-threaded  paper  the  examination  must  ex- 
clude all  paper  where  the  silk  is  not  completely  inclosed  between  the 
two  surfaces  of  the  paper. 


A.  K.   V.   WHITE, 

■RKSIDENT    I'KKSTK.V    NATIONAI,    liANK.    DETROIT.    .MICH. 


ISSUE  OF  DISTINCTIVE  PAPER:  The  demand  for  all 
kinds  of  securities  has  its  origin,  so  far  as  the  Department  is  con- 
cerned, in  the  office  from  which  the  security  is  issued,  the  head  of  that 
office  or  bureau  making  his  requisitions  upon  the  Secretary  for  the 
number  of  printed  impressions  required  from  time  to  time  to  supply 
the  demand. 

LOANS  AND  CURRENCY  DIVISION:  This  Division, 
having  charge  of  the  examination,  count,  and  custody  of  distinctive 
paper,  is  the  medium  through  which  a  requisition   is   sent.      An    order 


68 

for  the  printing  is  prepared  and  signed  by  the  Secretary.  The  amount 
of  paper  required  to  fill  the  requisition,  with  a  percentage  allowed  for 
work  spoiled,  is  placed  by  denominations  to  the  credit  of  the  Bureau 
of  Engraving  and  Printing,  and  against  this  credit  that  bureau  is 
allowed  to  draw  from  time  to  time  for  printing  the  securities  ordered. 

BUREAU  OF  ENGRAVING  AND  PRINTING. 
ENGRAVING    AND    PRINTING    SHEET,  CURRENCY,  ETC. 

MISCELLANEOUS  (OFFICE)  DIVISION.  The  office  re- 
ceives the  requisitions  of  the  Departments  for  the  work  of  the  Bureau, 
and  in  compliance  therewith  gives  the  necessary  order  in  writing  to  the 
superintendents  of  the  several  divisions  and  sees  that  they  are  proper- 
ly carried  out.  It  makes  the  estimates,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  purchases  the  supplies,  and  prepares  the 
designations  for  employment.  The  office  receives,  files,  and  answers 
communications,  keeps  all  the  general  accounts  of  the  Bureau,  and  re- 
ports daily  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  by  classes  and  denomina- 
tions, the  blank  distinctive  paper  received  and  delivered  printed,  and 
monthly  reports  compiled  from  the  division,  daily  reports  of  the 
receipts,  deliveries,  and  balances  of  paper,  for  comparison  and  check 
with  the  paper  account  against  the  Bureau  kept  in  the  Secretar}''s 
office,  division  of  loans  and  currency. 

ENGRAVING  DIVISION.  The  work  of  this  division  is  en- 
graving new  dies  and  plates  for  plate  printing  and  new  forms  for  sur- 
face printing  the  securities,  etc.,  and  keeping  them  in  good  printing 
order.  New  engravings  are  made  only  on  the  written  order  of  the 
chief  of  the  Bureau.  The  superintendent  directs  the  preparation  ot 
models,  to  be  approved  by  the  Department  for  which  the  work  is  in- 
tended, and  also  all  the  processes  of  engraving,  until  the  work  is 
finished.  The  engraved  stock  is  classified  as  plates,  forms,  rolls,  dies, 
shells,  etc.,  and  numbered,  each  piece  being  designated  and  known  by 
its  class  and  separate  serial  number.  All  the  engraved  stock  is  held 
in  safety  vaults  by  the  custodian  of  dies,  rolls,  and  plates,  a  direct  rep- 
resentative of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  independent  of  the 
Bureau.  The  custodian  keeps  a  record  of  the  engraved  stock,  and,  on 
requisition  of  the  superintendent,,  delivers  during  the  day  the  pieces 
required  for  additional  processes  of  engraving.  He  receives  it  all  back 
at  the  close  of  work,  giving  the  superintendent  a  receipt  for  each  piece' 
and  makes  a  daily  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  that  all  the 
engraved  stock  delivered  during  the  day  has  been  correctly  returned. 
The  engraving  division  keeps  a  record  of  every  piece  of  engraving 
handled,  showing  the  name  of  the  workman  through  whose  hands 
each  piece  passed  and  the  nature  of  the  work  bestowed  upon  it. 
Each  workman  at  the  close  of  the  day  delivers  to  the  superintendent 
the  piece  remaining  in  his  hands,  and  is  not  permitted  to  leave  the  build- 
ing at  any  time  without  a  certificate  that  all  the  engraved  stock 
handled  \)y  him  has  been  returned. 


69 

PRINTING  DIVISION.  Wetting  Branch—The-  printing  divis- 
ion comprises  several  branches  under  the  general  supervision  of  the 
superintendent  of  printing,  and  the  work  in  the  respective  branches  is 
under  the  immediate  supervision  of  a  separate  superintendent.  In  the 
wetting  branch  the  paper  is  prepared  for  plate  printing.  All  the  im- 
pressions representing  values  and  the  checks  are  printed  on  a  distinc- 
tive paper  manufactured  exclusively  for,  and  under  the  supervision  of 
the  officers  of  the  Treasury  Department.  The  superintendent  of  the 
wetting  branch  is  furnished  with  a  copy  of  the  printing  orders  and 
makes  daily  requisitions  on  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  the  paper 
needed.  The  paper  is  received  in  packages,  usually  of  i,ooo  sheets 
each,  and  is  counted  on  receipt  to  verify  the  filling  of  the  requisition. 
It  is  then  passed  through  the  wetting  process.  The  wetting  requires 
a  separation  and  count  of  the  paper  in  sections  of  from  ten  to  forty 
sheets  each,  according  to  the  character  of  the  paper  and  its  requisite 
condition  for  printing.  The  sections,  which  have  been  placed  between 
cotton  cloths  saturated  with  water,  are  shifted,  taken  out  of  cloths  and 
counted,  and  stacked  in  their  wet  condition  ready  for  delivery  to  the 
printers.  If  more  than  one  plate  printing  is  required  on  the  same 
sheet,  the  paper  is  again  received  in  its  printed  form  from  the  examin- 
ing division  to  be  prepared  as  before  for  the  next  printing.  The  mdi- 
\idual  plate  printers  are  charged  in  this  branch  with  the  paper  delivered 
to  them  daily  for  each  job  of  work  and  credited  with  the  paper 
returned  unprinted.  Employes  are  not  permitted  to  leave  the  building 
without  a  certificate  from  the  superintendent  that  the  work  is  correctly 
balanced.  An  account  is  kept  and  a  daily  report  made  to  the  ofifice 
by  class  and  denomination  of  the  number  of  sheets  received,  delivered, 
and  on  hand. 

Plate  branch — Hand-presses. — Plate-printing  on  the  hand-presses 
is  executed  in  this  Vjranch.  No  work  is  printed  except  on  the  written 
order  of  the  chief  of  the  Bureau.  The  superintendent  daily  assigns 
certain  classes  and  denominations  of  printing  to  the  individual  printers, 
who  draw  from  the  wetting  branch  the  paper  to  correspond  with  the 
job,  and  after  counting  it,  give  their  indi\'idual  receipts  for  it.  By 
requisition  on  the  custodian  of  dies,  rolls,  and  plates,  the  superinten- 
dent obtains  the  necessary  plates,  and  appropriately  distributes  them 
among  the  printers,  holding  each  printer  accountable  for  the  return  of 
his  plate  at  the  close  of  work.  Attached  to  each  press  is  an  autom- 
atic register,  b\'  which  every  revolution  of  the  press  capable  of  printing 
an  impression  from  the  plate  in  the  hands  of  the  printer  is  exactly 
indicated  to  the  register  clerk,  who  makes  a  daily  report  to  the  office 
of  the  advance  made  in  the  register  from  the  preceeding  day.  The 
printing  of  the  day  is  collected  from  the  printers  in  packages  of  one 
hundred  and  two  hundred  sheets  each,  entered  in  their  pass-books, 
and  delivered  to  the  examining  division,  to  be  counted  and  recorded 
in  the  entry-book  to  the  credit  of  the  printer.  At  the  close  of  work 
each  day  the  accounts  of  the  wetting  branch,  examining  division,  and 
register  Clerks  are  compared  and  checked  by  the  superintendent  of 
printing,  to  show  that  the  paper  delivered  for  printing  and  the  printed 


70 

impressions  received  from  the  printers  agree  and  correspond  with  the 
register  account,  and  the  custodian  of  dies,  rolls,  and  plates  reports 
that  all  the  plates  and  forms  delivered  for  printing  during  the  day  have 
been  returned  to  him.  No  printer  is  permitted  to  pass  from  the 
building  during  the  day  without  a  certificate  showing  the  return  of  his 
paper  and  a  check  showing  the  return  of  his  plate. 

Plate  branch. — Steam-presses — Plate-printing  on  the  presses  ope- 
rated by  steam  is  executed  in  this  branch.  It  is  under  the  supervision 
of  a  seperate  superintendent,  and  its  methods  are  substantially  the 
same  as  those  of  the  plate  branch  hand-pres.sec. 


--^^^rs^^^^^^^^^^V^ 


CASHIER    HA<  KI.EV    NATIUNAI-    HANK,    MlsKEi 


Surface  branch. — The  surface  printing  on  typographic  presses  is 
executed  in  this  branch.  No  work  is  printed  except  on  the  written 
order  of  the  chief  the  Bureau.  The  presses  are  known  by  number,  and 
in  this  branch  the  work  is  assigned  to  the  press  instead  of  the  printer, 
one  press-man  having  charge  of  one  or  more  presses.  The  work  con- 
sists of  printing  seals  and  charter  numbers  on  the  faces  and  charter 
numbers  on  the  backs,  of  national  currency,  indorsements,  addresses, 
etc.,  on  checks,  and  tints  on  distinctive  paper  for  internal-revenue  and 
customs  stamps,  etc.  The  distinctive  paper  is  drawn  from  the  wetting 
branch,  the   national   currency  from    the   numbering   division,  and   the 


71 

checks  from  the  bindini^  division,  and  receipted  for  in  each  case  by  the 
superintendent.  The  engraved  forms  from  which  the  printing  is 
executed  are  drawn  from  the  custodian  of  dies,  rolls,  and  plates,  the 
superintendent  making  the  requisition,  and  taking  a  receipt  for  each 
piece  returned  at  the  close  of  work.  The  sheets  are  counted  on  their 
receipt,  fed  on  the  press,  examined,  and  counted.  Automotic  registers 
are  on  the  presses  indicating  the  number  of  impressions  printed.  The 
register  count  is  checked  with  the  superintendent's  account  of  each 
day,  and  no  employe  is  permitted  to  leave  the  building  without  a  cer- 
tificate of  the  superintendent  that  the  work  account  is  correctly 
balanced.  A  daily  report  by  classes  and  denominations  is  made  to  the 
office  of  the  number  of  sheets  received,  delivered,  and  on  hand. 

EXAMINING  DIVISION.  In  this  division  the  plate  printed 
work  is  carefully  examined  by  experts  with  a  view  to  elimmating  and 
withholding  from  the  further  process  all  mutilated  or  imperfect  impres- 
sions. The  sheets  requiring  no  additional  wetting  frr  further  printing 
are  also  pressed  by  placing  two  together  between  pressing  boards,  and 
in  lots  of  about  a  thousand,  subjecting  them  to  heavy  hydraulic  pres- 
sure to  restore  the  even  surface  of  the  paper  roughened  by  the  wetting. 
The  impressions  printed  in  the  plate  branches  come  to  this  division 
fresh  from  the  press  to  be  wet-counted,  are  entered  to  the  credit  of  the 
printers  whose  initials  are  printed  on  the  margins  of  the  sheets,  spread 
on  racks  and  conveyed  to  the  drying-room  to  remain  during  the  night. 
The  surface  printed  tints  are  also  received,  counted,  and  delivered  to 
the  vault  division  to  be  held  as  stock  subject  to  be  drawn  on  requsi- 
tion  by  the  wetting  branch  to  prepare  them  for  additional  printing  in 
the  plate  branch.  After  the  plate-printed  impressions  have  been  dried 
ihey  are  arranged  in  classes,  each  printer's  work  separately,  and  exam- 
ined. A  report  is  made  of  the  number  of  sheets  spoiled  by  each 
printer,  and  showing  the  nature  of  the  defect  as  a  basis  of  charge 
against  the  printer's  pay  account  when  the  number  of  sheets  exceeds  a 
stated  percentum  of  allowance  for  spoilage.  The  imperfect  impressions 
are  canceled  and  delivered  to  the  vault  division  for  final  delivery  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  destruction.  The  perfect  plate-printed 
impressions  required  for  further  plate  printing  are  delivered  to  the  vault 
division  to  be  held  subject  to  requisition  by  the  wetting  branch  to  pre- 
pare them  for  the  additional  printing.  Those  requiring  no  further  plate 
printing  are  pressed  and  counted,  and,  if  other  processes  are  to  be 
applied  to  thtm,  they  are  delivered  to  the  proper  operating  division. 
If  no  other  process  is  required  they  are  packed,  and  delivered  to  the 
vault  divi>ion  for  delivery  to  the  department  for  which  they  are 
intended,  h'.mployes  are  not  permitted  to  leave  the  building  without 
a  certificate  from  the  supermtendent  that  the  work  account  is  correctly 
balanced.  An  account  is  kept  by  class  and  denomination,  and  a  daily 
report  made  to  the  office  of  the  number  of  impressions  received,  de- 
livered, and  on  hand. 

NUMBERING  DIVISION.  In  this  division  all  the  securities, 
notes,  certificates,  checks,  stamps,  etc.,  requiring  the  process,  are, 
with   automatic   machines,  numbered   on    each    subject   of    the    sheet. 


72 

The  numbers  on  the  securities,  notes,  stamps,  or  checks  of  a  particular 
issue  or  series  begin  at  one  on  the  first  issue  and  continue  in  uninter- 
rupted sequence,  and  represent  the  order  and  extent  of  the  issue  of  any 
series.  The  sheets  are  received  from  the  examining  and  binding  divi- 
sions and  counted  on  their  receipt.  After  numbering  they  are  exam- 
ined as  to  the  accuracy  of  the  numbers  and  again  counted.  The  sheets 
requiring  seals  and  charter  numbers  imprinted  on  them  by  the  surface 
process  are  machine-trimmed  on  the  two  sides  to  fit  them  to  an 
accurate  register  on  the  surface-printing  presses.  The  sheets  requiring 
further  processes  are  delivered  to  the  proper  oj:)erating  division.  Those 
that  are  finished  are  delivered  to  the  vault  division  for  final  delivery  to 
the  department  for  whicn  they  are  intended.  Employes  are  not  per- 
mitted to  leave  the  building  without  the  superintendent's  certificate 
that  the  work  is  correctly  balanced.  An  account  is  kept  of  the  serial 
numbers  placed  on  all  the  securities,  notes,  certificates,  checks,  stamps, 
etc.,  by  class  and  denomination,  and  a  daily  report  is  made  to  the 
office  of  the  number  of  sheets  received,  delivered,  and  on  hand. 

BINDING  DIVISION.  In  this  division  all  the  checks  and  the 
stamps  requiring  the  process  are  bound.  Certain  stamps  are  also 
gummed  and  pressed,  and,  after  gumming,  perforated  ;  others  are  per- 
forated without  being  gummed.  There  are  other  processes,  such  as 
needling,  triming,  and  separating.  The  sheets  are  received  from  the 
examining  division  and  numbering  division  and  surface  branch.  They 
are  counted  on  their  receipt  and  passed  through  the  various  processes 
by  the  workmen  and  operatives  under  the  supervision  of  the  super- 
intendent. All  the  bound  sheets  art  examined  as  to  the  sequence  of 
numbers  in  the  volume,  and  all  the  unbound  sheets  are  counted.  The 
finished  sheets  are  delivered  to  the  vault  division  for  final  delivery  to 
the  department  for  which  they  are  intended.  Employes  are  not  per- 
mitted to  leave  the  building  without  a  certificate  from  the  superinten- 
dent that  the  work  account  is  correctly  balanced.  An  account  is  kept 
in  the  division  and  a  daily  report  made  to  the  office  by  class  and 
denomination  of  the  number  of  sheets  received,  delivered,  and  on  hand. 

VAULT  DIVISION.  The  superintendent  of  this  division  re- 
ceives from  the  several  operating  divisions  the  unfinished  work  for  safe- 
keeping when  not  undergoing  any  process,  and  receives  the  completed 
notes,  securities,  stamps,  etc.,  and  delivers  them  to  the  several  Bureaus 
of  the  Treasury  and  other  departments;  and  receives  and  delivers  the 
imperfect  impressions  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  takes  re- 
ceipts and  sees  that  the  entries  on  the  receipt  book  are  accurately 
made  and  properly  signed.  The  receipts  obtained  b\-  the  vault 
division  are  prepared  in  the  office  from  the  schedules  of  the  divisions 
on  account  of  which  the  deliveries  are  made,  and  are  verified  by  the 
daily  reports. 

SECURITY  WAGON.  At  stated  times  each  day  an  inclosed 
and  locked  steel-lined  truck  or  "security  wagon"  is  used  by  this 
division  to  carry  the  paper  from  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  the  wetting  branch,  and  also  to  deliver  the  securities, 
notes,  stami)s,  etc.      Emjilyes    are    assigned  by   the   superintendent   to 


73 

accompany  the  truck  for  protection;  otherwise  the  employes  are  not 
permitted  to  leave  the  building  without  a  certificate  from  the  sup- 
erintendent that  the  division  account  is  correct. 

TREASURER  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

SEALING  AND  SEPARATING  SHEET  CURRENCY. 

RECEIPT  OF  SHEET  CURRENCY  :  The  notes  are  received 
from  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing  at  8:30  a.m.  each  business 
day.  and  the  packages  are  carefully  checked  off  and  receipted  for  by 
the  Division  Chief,  or  his  assistant,  subject  to  count.  Forty-eight  (48) 
packages  of  1,000  sheets  each  are  now  received  daily. 


im;e.-ii>i:.\t  halki.kv  national  bank,  miskeoox.  mich. 

The  packages  are  at  once  numbered  from  i  to  48,  in  the  order  in 
■which  the  notes  run  numerically,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  arranging  of 
the  packages  later  in  the  day,  and  are  then  given  to  the  sheet  counters 
for  verification  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  required  in  the  Press 
Room,  and  is  for  the  purpose  of  doing  away  with  tne  necessity  of  re- 
arranging the  seals  in  the  forms. 

SEALING:  In  the  meantime  the  presses,  six  in  number,  are 
being  prepared    for  the  process  of  sealing.       As   soon   as   a   sufficient 


74 

number  of  bundles  have  been  counted  to  start  the  presses  they  are  at 
once  sent  to  the  Press  Room.  When  the  seaHng  takes  place  the 
bundles  aie  strapped  and  returned  to  the  Separating  Room,  and  others 
take  their  place.  The  packages  just  sealed  are  immediately  given 
to  the  sheet  counters  (who  are  not  permitted  to  count  back  their  own 
work)  when  the  third  count  is  given.  The  second  count  is  made  in 
the  Press  Room  by  an  automatic  register  attached  to  each  press.  Dur- 
ing this  third  count  the  sheet  counters  are  not  only  required  to  see 
that  they  have  i,000  sheets,  and  that  they  are  all  sealed,  but  must 
watch  for  imperfections  of  every  description,  more  especially  those  re- 
sulting from  the  process  of  sealing. 

The  packages  are  now  placed  in  a  case  constructed  for  the  pur- 
pose, there  to  remain  until  all  of  the  48,000  sheets  have  been  sealed, 
when  they  are  arranged  in  the  order  in  which  the  bundles  were  num- 
bered upon  their  receipt  from  the  Bureau  ot  Engraving  and  Printing, 
packed  in  a  box  constructed  for  their  reception,  the  box  locked  and 
taken  to  the  Cashier's  vault,  where  it  is  left  until  the  next  day;  then 
taken  out  and  delivered  to  the  Issue  Division,  where  the  packages  are 
placed  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  separating  machines,  and  the 
process  of  separating  and  trimming  begun. 

SEPARATING:  The  separator  takes  a  package  of  sheets  and 
placing  herself  at  the  machine,  feeds  it  sheet  by  sheet  until  all  the 
1,000  sheets  have  been  passed  through,  separated,  and  trimmed  ready 
for  circulation,  pausing  a  moment  at  the  end  of  each  25  sheets  (100 
notes)  to  enable  the  receiver,  who  sits  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
machine,  to  place  a  strap  around  the  notes  and  pass  the  package  to 
the  note  counter  assigned  to  the  machine,  who  makes  the  final  count, 
sees  that  the  notes  are  numerically  arranged,  removes  for  exchange 
such  notes  as  have  been  thrown  out  for  imperfections,  substitutes  per- 
fect notes  which  are  furnished  at  the  time  for  the  purpose,  placing  on 
the  back  of  the  strap  the  numbers  of  the  substitute  notes,  the  strap 
having  already  been  stamped  on  its  face,  calling  attention  to  the  sub- 
stitution; and  so  on  until  the  entire  4,000  notes  have  been  counted 
and  are  ready  to  go  to  the  package  sealer.  She  now  turns  over  to  the 
person  keeping  the  record  and  exchange  box  a  ticket  which  gives  an 
exact  description  of  the  package,  the  names  of  those  through  whose 
hands  it  has  passed,  with  the  number  of  notes  rejected  marked  there- 
on, the  reasons,  and  who  is  responsible,  receiving  therefor  a  label  which 
describes  the  package  as  a  whole,  which,  with  the  bundle  of  money,  is 
turned  over  to  the  package  sealer. 

PACKAGE  SEALER:  The  package  sealer  sees  that  the 
bundle  contains  40  packages,  places  the  bundle  in  a  press  constructed 
for  the  purpose,  compresses  it  to  the  smallest  compass  possible,  ties  it, 
wraps,  seals,  and  labels  it. 

VAULT  CLERK.  When  the  package  sealer  has  the  whole  48 
bundles  ready  he  delivers  them  to  the  Vault  Clerk  and  takes  his  re- 
ceipt in  a  book  especially  prepared  for  the  purpose. 

This  gives  in  detail  the  course  which  a  single  bundle  of  sheets 
takes  from  the  moment   it  is  received   from    the  Bureau   of  Engraving 


75 

ar.d    I'rinting   up  to  the  time   when  it    is   sealed,    separated,  trimmed, 
counted,  packed  and  ready  for  the  custody  of  the  Vault  Clerk. 

It  may  be  proper  to  add  that  this  Division  is  daily  handling 
3^4,000  notes  in  process  of  completion,  the  denominations  ranging 
Ir  -m  one  dollar  to  one  thousand. 

ISSUE  OF  UNITED  STATES  PAPER    CURRENCY. 

CASH  DIVISION.  This  division  is  a  part  of  the  office  of  the 
Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  is  under  the  immediate  direction  of  the 
Cashier  of  the  Treasury,  and  is  charged,  among  other  duties,  with  the 
receipt  of  all  United  States  Notes,  Treasury  Notes  of  1890,  Gold 
Certificates,  Silver  Certificates,  and  Currency  Certificates  made  and 
issued  by  the  Government.  A  record  is  kept  by  kind,  denomination, 
and  number  of  all  currency  received,  through  the  Issue  Division  of  the 
Treasurer's  Office,  from  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing,  for  de- 
posit in  the  Reserve  Vault,  and  of  all  currency  withdrawn  therefrom  to 
take  the  place  of  unfit  currency  destroyed.  Transfers  of  new  cur- 
rency are  made  to  the  various  Sub-Treasuries.  Returns  for  currency 
sent  for  redemption  are  made,  when  requested,  in  new  currency,  to  the 
Banks  and  mdividuals  by  whom  it  was  sent.  Tickets  showing  the 
name  and  address  of  the  Banks  or  individuals  to  whom  the  currency 
is  to  be  shipped  and  the  amount  thereof  are  received  from  the  Redemp- 
tion Division,  currency  is  drawn  from  the  vault,  and  such  amounts  as 
are  directed  by  the  tickets  are  placed  in  strawboard  shipping-boxes, 
which  are  wrapped,  sealed,  and  addressed,  and  delivered  to  the  United 
States  Express  Company  for  transmission.  A  record  is  kept  of  each 
note  shipped,  by  kind,  denomination  and  number. 

REDEMPTION  OF  UNITED  STATES  PAPER 
CURRENCY. 

EXPRESS  CLERK:  The  express  clerk  receives  from  the  Chief 
the  packages  of  money  transmitted  for  redemption  and  delivers  them 
to  the  counters,  taking  a  receipt  for  each  one,  after  having  entered  in 
his  register — in  numerical  order —  the  name  and  address  of  the  sender, 
the  amount  marked  on  the  outside  of  the  wrapper,  and  the  express 
charges  to  be  deducted;  he  also  makes  a  statement  daily  at  the  close 
of  business  of  the  uncounted  money  on  hand,  showing  the  amount  of 
each  package  and  the  name  of  the  counter  or  person  having  it  in 
charge. 

MONEY  COUNTERS.  Closely  allied  to  the  Express  Clerk's 
desk  are  the  money  counters,  who,  each  in  turn,  receives  from  him  a 
package  of  money  for  count.  This  she  takes  to  her  desk,  exammes 
the  seals  to  see  that  they  are  intact  and  have  not  been  tamptred  with 
in  transmission,  notes  the  markings  on  the  outside,  then  opens  the 
package  and  compares  the  contents  with  the  outside  markings,  taking 
care  to  report  all  overs,  shorts,  counterfeits,  raised  notes,  pieced  note=, 
or  other  errors.  She  then  assorts  the  money  into  its  different  kinds 
and  denominations,  places  it  in  paper  straps  properly  marked,  makes  a 
written  statement  showing  the  contents  of  the  package,  its  errors,  etc.. 


76 

has  the  money  cancelled,  and  returns  it  with  the  statement  to  the 
Teller,  who  gives  her  a  receipt. 

The  counters  are  under  the  superintendence  of  experieneed  per- 
sons, who,  in  addition  to  other  duties,  carefully  verify  all  errors,  see 
that  a  record  of  them  is  made,  and  report  matters  of  importance  to 
the  Chief 

TELLER:  The  teller  receives  from  the  counters  the  contents  of 
each  remittance  after  being  counted,  together  with  a  statement  show- 
ing the  name  of  the  sender,  the  amounts  and  kinds  of  money  found, 
and  a  record  of  all  errors  (if  any)  discovered.      He  compares  the  money 


6  :fy'' 


v-i'ui;sri>i:NT  iiaiki.ey  national  bank,  mu>ki:(;on.  jik  ii, 

with  the  statement,  seeing  that  each  item  is  properly  entered  and 
returned.  He  makes  a  detailed  entry  in  his  cash  books  and  forwards 
the  statement  first  to  the  Express  Clerk  for  entry  in  his  register,  and 
then  to  the  Settlement  Clerks,  as  a  basis  for  making  returns  to  the 
sender  of  the  remittance.  He  makes  a  daily  statement  showmg  the 
amount  and  kinds  of  money  in  his  possession  at  the  close  of  business. 
At  the  opening  of  business  each  day  the  Teller  deliversto  the 
Delivery  Clerk  the  money  counted  and  got  rt-ady  for  destruction  the 
preceding  day ;  to  the  Odds  Clerk  the  money  not  yet  made  up  into 
full  packages;  to  the   Discount    Clerk    the   mutilated   notes    that  have 


77 
been  redeemed  at  less  than  full  value;  to   the  Ca^h   Division   the  new 
money  fit  for  reissue  and  the  coin;  and  to  the  National  Hank  Redemp- 
tion Agency  the  national  bank  notes  found. 

ODDS  CLERK:  The  Odds  Clerk  receives  from  the  Teller  the 
odd  money  found  m  the  preceding  day's  count,  that  is,  the  money  of 
which  there  is  less  than  $50  of  a  kind  and  denomination,  and  after 
combination  returns  what  full  money  she  can  make  up  to  the  Teller. 

DISCOUNT  CLERK:  The  Discount  Clerk  receives  from  the 
Teller  the  money  discounted  during  the  day  and  holds  it  subject  to 
the  orders  of  the  Chief. 

DELIVERY  CLERK:  The  Delivery  Clerk  prepares  the  re- 
deemed money  received  from  the  Teller  for  destruction.  He  first 
assorts  it  into  its  T<in<is  and  denominations  and  makes  an  inventory  of 
each,  which  is  copied  into  a  record  kept  for  that  purpose.  A  copy  of 
this  IS  also  prepared  for  the  use  of  the  Destruction  Committee,  which, 
after  being  certified  by  them,  is  forwarded  to  the  accounting  officers 
of  the  Department  in  settlement  of  the  Treasurer's  redemption 
account. 

The  Delivery  Clerk  places  marks  and  labels  on  each  package  of 
money,  so  that  an  error  can  always  be  traced,  cuts  it  in  two  parts, 
lengthwise,  on  a  knife  prepared  for  that  purpose,  and  delivers  the  upper 
half  to  the  Office  of  the  Register  of  the  Treasury  and  the  lower  half 
to  the  Office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  each  of  which  a 
recount  and  examination  is  made. 

COMMITTEE  ON  DESTRUCTION. 

DESTRUCTION     OF    UNITED    STATES    SECURITIES: 

The  committee  to  witness  and  certify  to  the  destruction  of  United 
States  securities  is  composed  of  four  persons,  one  representing  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasuiy,  one  the  Register  of  the  Treasury,  one  the 
Treasurer  U.  S.,  and  one  especially  appointed  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  as  a  special  witness.  The  committee  is  authorized  by  the 
Act  of  March  17.  1862  ( i  2  Stat.,  p.  370). 

All  U.  S.  securities  that  are  sent  to  the  Treasurer  U.  S.  for 
redemption  are  classified  by  denominations,  counted,  proved,  and 
entered  in  a  book  for  that  purpose.  They  are  then  made  up  into  lots 
by  issues  and  denominations,  after  which  they  are  cut  in  two  from  end 
to  end — the  upper  half  being  sent  to  the  Register  of  the  Treasur)'  and 
the  lower  half  to  the  Office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  recount 
to  verify  the  count  of  the  Treasurer's  Office,  after  which  each  half  is 
entered  in  a  book  in  the  respective  offices,  corresponding  with  the 
book  of  the  Treasurers  Office. 

These  securities  are  then  turned  over  to  the  committee  for  destruc- 
tion, which  committee  meets  three  mornings  of  each  week  at  9  o'clock, 
in  the  Committee  Room  of  the  Secretary's  Office  and  there  checks  the 
lowes  halves  by  denominations  from  slips  for  that  purpose  into  boxes 
said  bo.xes  being  securely  locked.  The  committee  then  goes  to  the 
Register's  Office  and  there  checks  the  upper  halves  of  the  same  lots 
from  the  slips  used  in  checking  the  lower  halves;   if  the   committee  is 


then  satisfied  that  all  is  correct,  the  boxes  are  taken  to  the  Bureau  of 
Engraving  and  Printing  and  the  securities  are  placed  in  the  macerator, 
which  is  then  locked  and  sealed  in  their  presence.  The  securities  thus 
placed  in  the  macerator  are  reduced  to  pulp  by  the  combined  action  of 
steam  alkalies,  and  knives;  and  the  pulp  is  sold  under  contract. 

ADVICE  AS  TO  OFFICIAL  MAIL. 

DO  NOT  ADDRESS  LETTERS  TO  THE  "TREASURY 
DEPARTMENT.'  If  letters  are  addressed  to  the  "Treasury  Depart- 
ment" they  are  invariably  sent  to  the  office  of  the  Secretary,  while,  in 
thousands  of  cases,  they  are  intended  for  other  officers.  The  duties  of 
each  Bureau  are  herein  clearly  set  forth,  showing  to  whom  correspond- 
ence on  any  subject  should  be  addressed. 


K.    H.    EV.\XS, 
■ASIIIKU    <;i:i{MAN    NATIllXAI.    HANK, 


■iKO.-ll.    \VI> 


DO  NOT  SEND  STAMPS,  STAMPTED  OR  SELF-AD- 
DRESSED ENVELOPl^S.  They  are  unnecessary,  are  not  used  by 
the  Department,  and  occassion  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  In  some 
Bureaus  the  practice  is  to  return  the  stamps  and  envelopes,  in  others 
the  stamps  arc  sold  and  the  proceeds  deposited  in  the  Treasury. 


79 

ANNUAL  REPORTS  OF  FINANCIAL  OFFICERS:  Re- 
port on  finances,  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury';  report  of  the 
Director  of  the  Mint  (and  also  report  on  "Production  of  Precious 
Metals  in  the  United  States.");  report  of  Comptroller  of  the  Currency, 
in  two  volumes,  (the  second  \olume  giving  a  detailed  statement  as  to 
each  National  Bank);  report  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  and 
report  of  Treasurer  as  ex-officio  Commissioner  of  the  Sinking  Fund  of 
the  District  of  Columbia. 

Applications  for  copies  of  any  of  said  reports  should  be  addressed 
to  the  Bureau  by  which  it  is  issued,  as  each  Bureau  is  charged  with 
I  he  distribution  of  its  own  reports. 

PUBLIC  DEBT  STATEMENT:  This  statement  is  issued  on 
the  first  of  each  month  by  the  Division  of  Book-keeping  and  Warrents, 
Office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Applications  for  said  state- 
ment, and  all  correspondence  on  the  subject,  should  be  addressed 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

RESUMPTION  OF  SPECIE  PAYMENTS:  "  "=•  "  "^  * 
and  on  and  after  the  first  day  of  January,  anno  Domini  eighteen  hun- 
dred and  seventy-nine,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  redeem,  in 
coin,  the  United  States  legal-tender  notes  then  outstanding  on  their 
presentation  for  redemption,  at  the  ofiice  of  the  Assistant  Treasurer  of 
the  United  States  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  sums  of  not  less  than 
fifty  dollars."  (Section  3  of  Act  of  January  14,  i<S75,  18  Stat.,  p.  296, 
Supplement  R.  S.,  p.  58.) 

Sections  of  the  Act  of  March  3,  1887,  (24  Stat.,  p.  560),  is  as 
follows:  That  Section  3  of  the  Act  of  January  14,  1875, entitled  "An 
Act  to  provide  for  the  resumption  of  specie  payments,  be,  and  the 
same  is,  hereby  amended  by  adding  after  the  words  "New  York"  the 
words  "and  the  city  of  San  Francisco,  California." 

LIST  OF  SUB-TREASURIES,  MINTS,  AND  ASSAY  OFFICES. 


Location. 

Baltimore 

Boston     -  -  - 

Chicago 

Cincinnati 

New  Orleans 

New  York 

Philadelphia 

Samt  Louis     - 

San  Francisco 

Carson  City,  i  Nev.) 
New  Orleans 
Philadelphia 
San  Francisco 
Denver.     (Equipped  as 


Title  of  Officer  in  Charge. 


Sub -Treasuries. 


Mints. 


Assay  Orfico 


Assistant  Treasurer  U.  S. 
Assistant  Treasurer  U.  S. 
Assistant  Treasurer  U.  S. 
Assistant  Treasurer  U.  S. 
Assistant  Treasurer  U.  S. 
Assistant  Treasurer  U.  S. 
y\ssistant  Treasurer  U.  S. 
Assistant  Treasurer  U.  S. 
Assistant   IVeasurer  U.  S. 

Superintendent 
Su[)erintendent 
Superintendent 
Superintendent 
Assayer  in  charge 


8o 

Assay  Offices. 

Boise  City,  (Idaho;           .          .          -          -          -  Assayer  in  charge 

Charlotte,  (N.  C.)       -          -          -          -          -          -  Assayer  in  charge 

Helena,  (Mon.)        ------  Assayer  in  charge 

New  York           -------  Superintendent 

Saint  Louis      -------  Assayer  in  charge 

EXEMPTION  OF  UNITED  STATES  BONDS  FROM 
TAXATION. 

Section  3701  of  the  Revised  Statutes  provides  as  follows:  "All 
stocks,  bonds.  Treasury  notes,  and  other  obligations  of  the  United 
States,  shall  be  exempt  from  taxation  by  or  under  State  or  municipal 
or  local  authority."  This  section  makes  the  exemption  from  taxation 
binding  only  upon  "State  or  municipal  or  local  authority,"  but  according 
to  the  express  terms  of  the  act  of  Congress  of  July  14,  1870,  the  bonds 
and  the  interest  thereon  of  the  funded  loans  which  are  thereby  author- 
ized— namely,  the  loan  of  18S1,  the  loan  of  1891,  and  the  four-per- 
cent consols  of  1907 — "shall  be  exempt  from  the  payment  of  all  taxes 
or  duties  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  from  taxation  in  any  form 
by  or  under  State,  municipal  or  local  authority;  and  the  said  bonds 
shall  have  set  forth  and  expressed  upon  their  face  the  above  specified 
conditions." 

TAXATION   OF  NATIONAL  BANK  NOTES  AND 
TREASUARY    NOTES. 

The  act  of  August  13,  1894,  (Statutes,  53d  Congress,  2d  session 
p.  278),  provides:  That  circulating  notes  of  national  banking  associa 
tions  and  United  States  legal  tender  notes  and  other  notes  and 
certificates  of  the  United  States  payable  on  demand  circulating  or  in 
tended  to  circulate  as  currency  and  gold,  silver  or  other  coin  shall  be 
subject  to  taxation  as  money  on  hand  or  on  deposit  under  the  laws  of 
any  State  or  Territory:  Provided,  that  any  such  taxation  shall  be  ex- 
ercised in  the  same  manner  and  at  the  same  rate  that  any  such  State 
or  Territory  shall  tax  money  or  currency  circulating  as  money  within 
its  jurisdiction. 

Sec.  2.  That  the  provisions  of  this  Act  shall  not  be  deemed  or 
held  to  change  existing  laws  in  respect  of  the  taxation  of  national 
banking  associations. 

UNITED   STATES    MINT   TEST    FOR   GOLD    AND 
SILVER    COINS. 

For  gold  coins:  Strong  nitric  acid  63^  drachms;  muriatic  acid  15 
drops  or  '4  drachm;  water  5  drachms.  For  silver  coins:  Nitrate  of 
silver  24  grains;  nitric  acid  30  drop.s;  i  ounce  of  water. 

The  lifiuid  should  be  used  near  the  edge  of  the  coin  or  where  it  is 
most  worn. 

CONSCIENCE  FUND. 

An  account  designated  as  the  "Conscience  Fund,"  was  opened  by 
the  Register  of  the  Trcasuay,  to  show  from   time  to   time   the   receipts 


8i 


of  moneys  by  the  United  States  Government  from  unknown  persons. 
These  moneys  are  covered  into  the  General  Treasury  as  a  Miscellane- 
ous Receipt,  and  may  be  used  like  other  assets  of  the  Treasury  for 
any  purpose  that  Congress  may  deem  proper. 

The   account   was   opened    in    1811,  and   up   to  January   i,  1895, 
there  has  been  received,  in  small  and  large  sums,  the  aggregate  amount 

271448.70. 

Remittances  are  received  almost  weekly — occasionally  the  receipts 
are  two  or  three  cases  a  week — and,  as  a  rule,  the  letters  are  not  sign- 
ed. Frequently  they  are  forwarded  by  clergymen  at  the  request  of 
penitents.  As  nearly  all  the  communications  are  anonymous  acknow- 
ledgements are  always  made  through  the  local  press  of  Washington. 

VALUES  OF  FOREIGN  COINS. 
By  Section  25  of  the  Act  of  August  28,  1S94  (Statutes,  53rd 
Congress,  2nd  session,  p.  552)  the  Director  of  the  Mint  was  required 
to  estimate  quarterly,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  April,  July,  and 
October,  the  value  of  the  standard  coins  in  circulation  of  the  various 
nations  of  the  world.  The  followin  g  table  is  the  estimate  contained 
in  Circular  No.  i,  of  January  i,  1895  : 


ArgeQline  Republi< 


Austria^Hungary. 
B«lg 


um. 


Boll 

Brazil 

British  Puasessions  N. 
\.  'except  NewTound- 
)and|. 

Central  Amer.  States- 
Costa  Rica 1 

Guatemala 

Honduras 

NicaraKua 

Salvador J 

Chile 


Eg:>pi 


Finland 

France 

German  Empire. 

Great  Britain 

Greece 

Haiti 

India 

It»ly 

Japan 

Lit>erta 

Mexico  

Netherlands 
Newfoundland.. 

Norway 

Perti 

Portugal 

Russia 

Spam 

Sweden 

Switzerland 

Tripoli 

Turkey 

Venezuela 


Gold  and  silver . 


Gold  and  silver. 

Silver 

Gold 

Gold 


Silver 

Gold  anUsilv 


Silver 

Gold  and  silver . 

Gold 

Silver 


Gold. 


Gold 

Gold  and  ailver 

Gold 

Gold 

Gold  and  silver 
Gold  and  silver 

Silver 

Gold  and  silver 

Gold  and  silver* 


Gold  and  silver 

Gold 

Gold 

Silver 

Gold " 


Sllverl 

Gold  and  silver  . 

Gold 

Gold  and  silver  . 

Silver 

Gold 

<»oId  and  silver 


Monetary-  unit. 


Franc 

Boliviano . 

MUrels 

Dollar 


Peso.. 
Peso. 


,  Shangbai .. 

I  Haikwan 
Tael iCusloms). 

'  Tientsin 

i.Chefoo. 

Peso 

Peso - 

Crown 

Sucre 


Found  (100  piasters) 


Mark 

Franc 

Mark  

Pound  sterlii 

Drachma 

Gourde 

Rupee 

Lira 

v.„         /Gold.. 
•  en 1aii»>, 


1  Silver 


Florin  

Dollar _ _ 

Crown 

Sol 

Milreis 

«"»"« {S?I^r.:::: 

peseta 

Crown  

Franc -  - 

Mahbub  ufSU  piaslera. 

Piaster 

Bolivar 


.19.3 
.44.5 
.&4.6 
1.00 


4.iH.3 

I'.i.a 
.19.3 
.23,N 
4.H6.6J 
.19.3 
.Wi.S 


:)6.4 

19.3 
.2«.l) 
.19,3 

41.1 
.04.4 

19.3 


Gold:  argentine  (S4.t«.4)  and  >^  argentine.     Silver,  powaiid 

divisions 
(Gold:  former  nysteni— 4   florins   (II.9Z.9).  8  donna  (»3.»,8), 
'      ducat  (82.28.7)  and  4  ducats  ()f9  1S.8).     Silver :  1  and  2  florins. 
[      Gold    presentsystem   -20cro>viiB{»«.06,2).10crowiislJ2.irA6). 
Gold:    10  and  20  francs.     Silver     5  franca. 
Silver     boliviano  and  divisions. 
Gold  :  5.  10.  and  20  uiilreis.     Silver  :  i^.  I.  and  2  milreis. 


Silver    peso  and  divisions. 

Gold     escudo  «l.82.4).  doubloon  (fl.a«,l ),  and  condor  «».I2,3). 
Silver    peso  and  divisions. 


911  v 


peso. 


Gold    condor  tf9  64.71  and  doubl 

■Gold     doubloon  l$5  01 .7 1.     Silver 

Gold     10  and  2<l  crowns 

Gold     condor  ($9  61.7)  and  double.^'ondor 

divisions 
Gold  .  pound  1 100  piaslersj.  5.  10,  20.  and  50  plaste 

I.  2.  5.  lU.  and  '.'<i  piasters 
Gold  :  20  marks  ($3.85.9).  10  marks  ($1,931. 
(iold     6.  10.  20.  50.  and  100  franos.     Silver  .  i  frunc 
Gold     5.  10.  and  20  marks 

sovereign  (pound  sterling)  and  J^ 


Silver.  Sucre  ■ 


igii. 


Gold     5.  10,  20" 50.  and  100  drachmas.     Silver     5  drachmas. 

Silver .  gourde. 

Gold,   mohur  ($7.10.5)      Silver     rupee  and  divisions. 

Gold:  5.  10,  20,  50.  and  100  lire.     Silver;  5  lire 

Gold     1.  2.  5.  10,  and  20  yen 

Silver:  yen 

Gold,  dollar  ($0.98.3).  2! i.  5.  10,  and  20  dollars     Sliver:  dolls 

(or  peso)  and  divisions 
Gold:   10  florins.     Sliver     J-J.  1,  and  2!-5  florins. 
Gold     2  dollars  (r2.02,7) 
Gold     10  and  21"  crowns 
Silver    sol  and  divisions. 
Gold     1.2.  5.  and  10  inllreia. 

Gold  :  Imperial  ($7.71,8,,  and  W  imperial  t($3.86) 
Silver     '^  •/,.  and  I  ruble 
Gold  .  2S  pesetas     Silver     5  pesctaa 
Gold:   10  and  2U  crowns 
Gold    5,  10.  20,  50.  and  lUU  francs.     Silver    5  frano. 

Gold    25.  SU.  100.  '250.  and  500  plasters 

G^ld:  S.  10.  20.  50.  and  100  bolivars.     Silver:  5  liollvars. 


*  Gold  the  nominal  standard      Silver  practicallv  the  standard 

tCoined  since  January  1.  1886.     Old  half-iiuperial  —$3.98,6. 

I  Silver  the  nominal  standard.     Paper  the  actual  currency,  the  depreciation  of  wbicti  i 


sured  hy  ihe  gold  slandarrl 


82 

COLUMBIAN   HALF   DOLLARS. 

The  Act  of  August  5,  1892  (27  Stat.,  p.  3 89;,  provided  for  the 
coinage  of  silver  half  dollars  not  to  exceed  five  million  i  5,000,0001 
pieces,  to  be  known  as  the  Columbian  half  dollar,  struck  in  commem- 
oration of  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition.  The  said  act  authorized 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  pay  the  same  to  the  World's  Colum- 
bian Exposition,  for  labor  done,  materials  furnished,  and  services  per- 
formed in  prosecuting  the  work  of  preparing  the  Exposition  for 
opening. 


JOHN  A.   KINC. 

l'Ul>IDKNT    1  OUT    UKAItltOKN    NATIONAI,    ItANK.    Ill  IC  AC.O,    ILL. 

"Only  about  §750,000  were  sold  at  the  Fair,  while  nearly 
$1,250,000  more  were  paid  out  at  their  face  \alue  by  the  Fair  Man- 
agement. There  were  $570,880  of  the  com  which  never  left  the  Phila- 
delphia Mint  until  now.  There  was  $1,795,980  in  the  possession  of 
the  Government   a    short    time   ago,  a   large   number  finding  their  way 


back  to  the  Trcasui}-  during  the  recent  money  panic.  Tlie  oftlcers  of 
the  l'"air  proposed  at  one  time  to  pay  tlie  cost  of  transportation  and 
recoinage  of  the  half  dollars  which  had  not  been  sold  to  the  public,  in 
order  to  protect  the  rights  of  those  who  had  bought  the  souvenirs  at  a 
premium.  The  sum  of  $41,000  was  deposited  with  the  Treasurer  last 
December  for  these  expenses,  but  the  Government  insisted  on  a  further 
tieposit  of  $17,000  to  pay  for  the  recoinage  of  the  souvenirs  which  had 
never  left  the  Philadelphia  Mmt,  and  to  this  the  Managers  demurred. 
The  Director  of  the  Mmt  had  considerable  correspondence  on  the  sub- 
ject with  Mr.  James  W.  Ellsworth,  the  Lhairman  of  the  Finance  Com- 
mittee, with  the  result  that  the  deposit  of  $41,000  was  withdrawn  and 
the  entire  mass  of  souvenirs  left  to  be  treated  as  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  might  see  fit.  *  *  *  It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  all  the 
Columbian  half  dollars  now  being  put  in  circulation  bear  the  date 
1893.  There  were  $2,501,052.50  coined  in  that  year,  and  $475,000  in 
1892.  The  latter  still  sell  at  a  premium."  (Dickerman's  Counterfeit 
Detector,  November,  1 894.) 

The  question  has  often  arisen  as  to  whether  people  are  compelled 
to  accept  the  Columbian  half  dollars,  but  there  should  be  no  doubt  on 
the  subject,  as  the  Act  authorizing  their  coinage  provided  that  "All 
pro\-isions  of  law  relative  to  the  coinage,  legal-tender  quality,  and 
redemption  of  the  present  subsidiary  silver  coins  shall  be  applicable  to 
the  coins  issued  under  this  Act." 

Subsidiary  silver  corns  are  a  legal  tender  in  the  amount  of  ten 
dollars  in  any  one  payment,  and  are  redeemable,  when  presented  in 
sums  or  multiplies  of  twent)'  dollars,  by  the  Treasurer  or  any  Assistant 
Treasurer  U.  S. 

Columbian  half  dollars  are  paid  out  only  in  exchange  for  gold 
coin  or  gold  certificates,  and  will  be  sent  by  express  at  the  expense  of 
the  Government  in  sums  of  $200  or  more  for  like  amounts  of  gold  coin 
of  current  weight  or  gold  certificates  deposited  v.-ith  the  Treasurer  U.  S. 
or  any  Assistant  Treasurer. 

A  less  sum  than  $200  will  be  sent  by  express  at  the  cost  of  the 
consignee,  or  by  registered  mail  in  amounts  of  $50  at  risk  of  consignee, 
registration  free,  as  may  be  directed. 

ISABELLA  QUARTERS. 

The  Act  of  March  3,  1S93,  (27  Stat.,  p.  586),  provides  that  "Ten 
thousand  dollars  of  the  appropriation  for  the  Board  of  Lady  Managers 
shall  be  paid  in  souvenir  coins  of  the  denomination  of  twenty-five 
cents,  and  for  that  pur])ose  there  shall  be  coined  at  the  Mints  of  the 
United  States  siher  cjuarter  dollars  of  the  legal  weight  and  fineness, 
not  to  exceed  fort\-  thousand  pieces  *  *  *  and  all  provisions 
of  law  relative  to  the  coinage,  legal-tender  quality,  and  redemption  of 
the  present  subsidiary  silver  coins  shall  be  applicable  to  the  coins  here- 
in authorized  to  be  issued; 

"There  were  $10,005  75  of  Columbian  quarter  dollars  coined  and 
disposed  of,  none  of  which  are  111  general  circulation  so  far  as  we  can 
learn."     (Dickerman's   Counterfeit    Detector,    No\-cmber,  1894.)       Said 


84 

coins  have  the  same  legal-tender  qualities    and    are  redeemable  in   like 
manner  as  Columbian  half  dollars. 

Applications  for  Isabella  quarters  must  be  made  to  the  Board  of 
Lady  Managers  of  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition,  Chicago, 
Illinois. 

REVENUES  AND  EXPENDITURES  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT. 

(Home  Report  of  Treasurer,  U.  S.,  1894J. 

ftEVBNTTES   ANT)  EXPENDITURES. 

The  net  ordinary  revenues  and  expenditures  for  the  fiscal  years  end- 
ing June  30,  1893  and  1894,  were  as  shown  in  the  following  table : 


REVENUES. 

Cuatoms 

Internal  revenue 

Sale  of  public  lands 

Misrellaneons  aonrces. . 


Total 


EXPENDmrRBS*. 

Civil  and  miscellaneona: 

Customs,    light-hoDses,    pntlic 

buildings,  etc... 

Internal  revenue 

Interior  civil  (lands,  patents,  etc.) . 
Treasury  proper  (legislative,  exec- 
utive, and  other  civil)    

Diplomathc  (foreign  relations) 

Judiciary 

War  Dep.irtTnent 

Navy  Department - . 

Interior    nepartment    (Indians    and 

pensions) 

Interest  on  public  debt 


Total 

Net  decrease. 


"snrplns 

Petiv'.iencv 


$■203.  355.  016.  73 

161,  027,  623.  93 

3,182,  0«<».  78 

18. 2.54.  898.  34 


385, 819, 628. 78 


19, 398,  233. 00 
14,  866, 436.  78 
9.  751,  506.  22 

50,  507,  363.  69 

1,  997,  042.  90 

7,212,216.68 

49.641^773.47 

30. 136.084  43 

172.  702,  905. 14 
27,264,392.18 


383, 477. 9.54.  49 


2,  341,  674.  29 


$131,818,530.62 

147,111,232.81 

1,  673,  637.  30 

17,118.618.52 


297. 722, 019.  25 


20,316.268.90 
16.  308,  849.  71 
8,911,054.85 

49, 160,  804. 19 

1,  702,  307.  ai 

5,  .544.  599.  11 

54, 567, 929.  85 

31  701.  293.  79 

151,470,  766.  4« 
27.841,40.5.64 


Increase. 


Decrease. 


671.536,486.11 

13,  916,  391. 12 

1. 508, 452. 48 

1.136.279.82 


88.097.609.53 


$918,035.90 
1,442,412.93 


4,  926. 1.56,  38 
1.  565.  209.  36 


367.52.5.279.83       0.428.828  03 


69,  803,  260  58 


1,346,  5.59  50 

294,  736.  59 

1.667,617.57 


21.232.138.66 


25.  381,  502.  69 
15.  9,52.  674.  66 


72. 144. 9M.  87 


CONTENTS  OF  VAULTS  IN  U.  S.  TREASURER'S  OFFICE. 

(Approximate.) 


VAULT. 


AMOUNT. 


DESCRIPTION. 


I $103,740,000  Standard  silver  dollars. 

2 48,000,000  Standard  silver  dollars. 

2 3,680,000  (lold  coin. 

2 600,900  I"'ractional  silver,  $529,000;  minor  coin,  $7  1,900. 

3 3,500,000  National  bank  notes  received  for  redemption. 

4 1,000,000  Mixed  moneys  received  daily  for  redemption. 

6 13,000,000  Mixed  moneys  for  daily  use. 

7 250,000,000  lionds  held  as  security  for  N.  B.  circulation,  S:c. 

<S [  393,700,863  Held  as  reserve  to  replace  worn  and  mutilated  notes 

unfit  for  circulation. 


Total.  .    817,221,763 


Total  weight  of  coin  about  4,500  tons 


^5 
AMOUNF  C)l'    AK)NI-:V  IN  CIRCULATION. 


General  Stock, 
Coined  ok  Issued. 


In  Treasury. 


Gold  Coin 

Standard  Silver  Dollars 

Subsidiary  Silver 

Gold  Certificates 

Silver  Certificates 

Treas'y  Notes,  Act  .July  14, 1890.. 

United  States  Notes 

Cur'y  Cert'fs,  Act  June  8, 1872.. 
National  Bank  Notes 


$577, 

422, 

77, 

53, 

336, 

1.50, 

346, 

48, 

206, 


380,396  00 
426,  749  00 
155,  722  00 
420,869  00 
924,  .504  00 
823,  731  00 
681,016  00 
965,000  00 
605,710  00 


191,879, 

364, 537, 

14,  483, 

.58, 

5,  846, 

28,  369, 

81,919, 

1,  960, 

4,  759, 


020  00 
659  00 
6.36  00 
960  00 
720  00 
950  00 
158  00 
000  00 
972  00 


Totals 


2,220,38.3,697  00 


593,815,075  00 


Amount  in  Circu- 
lation 


$485,  501,  376  00 

57,  889,  090  00 

62,672,086  00 

5.3,  .361,909  00 

331,077,784  00 

122,4.53,781  00 

264,761,8.58  00 

47,  005,  000  00 

201,845,7.38  00 


1,626,568,622  00 


Population  of  the  United  States  January  1, 1895,  estimated  at  69,134,000;  circulation  per  capita,  S23.52. 


SUPERVISING  ARCHITECT  OF  THE  TREASURY. 

METHODS  IN  THE  ERECTION  OF  A  PUBLIC  BUILD- 
ING: When  Congress  authorizes  the  erection  of  a  Federal  building 
at  any  place,  in  most  cases  the  limit  of  the  cost  of  the  site,  building, 
heating  apparatus,  elevators,  and  approaches  is  fixed  in  the  law,  either 
separately  or  jointly,  and  a  portion  thereof  is  usually  appropriated  for 
purchase  of  site  and  commencing  the  erection  of  the  building.  When 
an  appropriation  has  thus  been  made,  the  Secretary,  except  in  cases 
where  the  act  of  Congress  otherwise  specially  directs,  advertises  in  the 
local  papers  for  proposals  for  the  sale  of  the  necessary  land,  as  re- 
quired by  sectiou  355,  Revised  Statutes,  United  States,  and  designates 
an  officer  of  the  Treasury  Department  to  examine  the  property  offered 
and  recommend  the  selection  of  a  site  therefrom  most  advantageous  to 
the  interests  of  the  Government  and  convenient  to  the  citizens  of  the 
place  in  which  the  building  is  to  be  erected.  Upon  the  selection  o{ 
the  site  of  proposal  of  the  owner  of  the  land  chosen  is  transmitted  to  the 
Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  with  request  that  he  cause  the 
title  to  the  same  to  be  examined,  and  if  found  valid,  to  secure  deeds  of 
conveyance  to  the  United  States,  and  cession  of  jurisdiction  over  the 
site  selected  is  then  secured  from  the  State  in  which  the  same  is 
located.  The  sketch  plans  for  the  building,  specifications,  and  detail 
estimates  are  next  prepared  and  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  Postmastc;r-General;  work  is 
commenced  on  the  working  drawings  and  specifications  for  each 
branch  of  work  on  the  building,  which  form  the  immediate  basis  upon 
which  to  invite  by  public  adxertisement,  proposals  and  the  execution 
of  contracts;  and  when  such  drawings  and  specifications  are  completed 
action  is  prorriptly  taken  to  place  the  work  on  the  market  and  to 
secure  the  early  commencement  and  rapid  prosecution  of  the  same. 
When  the  working  drawings  and  definite  specifications  are  sufficiently 
advanced  to  warrant  the  commencement  of  active  building  operations 
and  securing  uninterrupted  prosecution  of  the  same,  a  superintendent, 
technically  qualified  and  a  resident  1  when  a  competent   person   can    be 


86 

secured  in  the  locaiit)'  of  the  buildingi,  is  appointed  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  to  represent  the  Department  in  superintending  the 
construction  and  securing  the  satisfactory  prosecution  of  all  work  on 
the  building  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Government  and  in  full  com- 
pliance with  specifications,  drawings,  and  terms  of  contract.  To  assist 
th  e  superintendent  in  the  performance  of  his  duties  the  Department 
authorizes  the  employment  of  a  clerk,  and,  at  buildings  of  considerable 
magnitude,  an  assistant  superintendent,  a  general  foreman,  and  watch- 


("..   C.    HIXON. 
riKST    IMtKST.    I.A    C'KOSSK   NATIONAI.   BANK.    I,A    CKll-SK.    WIS. 


man.  Funds  on  account  of  the  appropriation  for  the  building  are 
from  time  to  time  remitted  to  the  disbursing  agent,  (who  is  duly  ap- 
pointed, in  accordance  with  section  8,  R.  S.,  U.  S.,  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasur)',  under  a  bond,  at  a  maximum  rate  of  three-eighths  of  one 
per  cent,  commissionj.with  which  to  pay  certificates  issued  by  the  super- 
intendent on  account  of  the  work,  authorized  by  the  Supervising 
Architect  and  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  of  which 
authority  he  has  been  duly  advised. 

Proposals  to  su[)j)ly  lalior  and   material   are.  except   in   cases  here- 
inafter   stated,    invited    by    publishing   advertisements   in   local   news- 


8? 

})apers  and  certain  technical  or  trades  journals  which  are  printed  for 
the  benefit  and  information  of  parties  engaged  in  building  pursuits 
throughout  the  United  States.  After  the  proposals  are  secured,  in 
response  to  such  advertisements,  they  are  opened  at  the  designated 
time,  in  the  presense  of  such  bidders  as  choose  to  be  present,  and  for- 
warded to  the  Department  (m  accordance  with  section  371O  R.  S., 
U.  S  ),  and  are  submitted  by  the  Supervising  Architect,  with  a  specific 
recommendation,  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  upon  his 
approval  the  most  economical  proposal  is  accepted  and  the  bidder  re- 
quired to  execute  a  bond  or  formal  contract  for  the  faithful  compliance 
therewith.  The  cases  which  are  exceptional  to  this  practice  are  those 
in  which  the  superintendent,  in  view  of  public  exigency  demanding 
the  immediate  performance  of  the  work  or  delivery  of  material  (as  pro- 
vided for  by  section  3709  R.  S.,  U.  S.),  recommends  the  employment 
of  the  labor  by  the  day  or  the  purchase  of  the  material  in  open  market 
and  such  recommendations  are  approved  by  the  Supervising  Architect 
and  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

CONTINENTAL  CURRENCY. 

REASONS  WHY  IT  IS  NOT  REDEEMABLE:  "The  mass 
of  debt  which  devolved  upon  the  United  States,  as  an  inheritance 
from  the  Continental  Congress  and  the  se\eral  colonies,  engaged  the 
attention  of  the  national  legislature  soon  after  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution. The  debt  was  very  large  and  depreciated,  and  was  still 
depreciating  in  value;  but  it  was  the  price  of  liberty,  and  the  payment 
of  that  portion  of  it  contracted  by  national  authority  was  made  obliga- 
tory by  the  new  Constitution."  (Bayley's  History  of  the  National 
Loans.) 

All  debts  contracted  and   engagements   entered    into,   before 

the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,   shall    be    as    valid    against   the 

United  States  under  this  Constitution,    as   under    the   Confedera- 
tion.    (Constitution,  Article  Vl.i 

"  It  was  necessary,  therefore,  to  provide  for  it  in  some  way. 
although  the  payment  of  even  the  interest  seemed  impossible  in  the 
exhausted  condition  of  the  country  at  that  time."  (Bayley's  History 
of  the  National  Loans.) 

On  September  2 1,  1789,  the  House  of  Representatives  adopted 
the  following  resolutions: 

Resolved,  That  this  House  consider  an  adequate  provision  for 

the  support  of  the  public  credit  as  a  matter  of  high  importance  to 

the  national  honor  and  prosperity. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  be    directed    to 

prepare  a  plan  for  that  purpose,   and   to   report   the  same  to  this 

House  at  its  next  meeting. 
"There  were  two  kinds  of  debt  in  the  adjustment  of  which  there 
seems  to  have  been  no  difficulty:  One  was  the  unadjusted  foreign 
debt,  where  the  lenders  had  paid  for  their  bonds  in  gold,  on  the  faith 
of  the  Continental  Congress;  the  other  icas  the  paper  money  issued  by 
Comrress  and  the  several  States." 


88 

"  Authorities  vary  as  to  the  amount  of  paper  money  issued 
during  the  struggle  for  independence.  Possibly  Mr.  Jefferson's 
statement  in  his  writings  may  be  taken  as  approximate  to  the  truth, 
and  it  affords,  at  the  same  time,  a  striking  exhibit  of  the  effects  of  the 
inflation  of  our  paper  currency:  (Bayley's  History  of  the  National 
Loans.) 

The  total  issue  was  estimated  by  Jefferson  at  about 
$200,000,000.  He  states  that  this  "  paper  money  continued  for 
a  twelvemonth  equal  to  gold    and    silver;"  it    then    began    to    de- 


S.  S.   BrRTON. 
iiitsT  <'ashii:r,  l.\  cro.sse  nation.xi.  hank,  i.a  ckosse.  wis. 


prcciate.  "  In  two  years  it  had  fallen  to  two  dollars  of  paper 
money  for  one  of  silver;  in  three  years  to  four  for  one  ;  in  nine 
months  it  fell  to  ten  for  one;  and  in  the  six  months  following, 
that   is    to   say,    by   Se[)tember,    1779,   it    had    fallen    twenty   for 

M      .y.     J/,     -v. 

one.     -^   *    ■• 

"  It  continued  to  circulate  and  to  depreciate  till  the  end  of 
17S0,  when  it  had  fallen  to  seventy-five  for  one;  and  the  money 
circulatetl  frcjui  the  I'^rench  army  being,  by  that    time,    sensible  in 


89 

all  the  States  north  of  the  Potomac,  the  j)aper  ceased    its   circula- 
tion altogether  in  those  States.      In  Virginia  and    North  Carolina 
it    continued   a   year   longer,   within    which    tune    it    fell    to    one 
thousand  for  one,  and  then  expired,  as   it  had   done   in  the  other 
States,  without   a  single  groan.     Not  a  inunmir  zvas  heard  o?i 
this  occasion  among  the  people.     On   the   contrary,   universal  con- 
gratulations took  place  on  their  seeing  this  gigantic  mass,  whose 
dissolution  had  threatened  convulsions   which  should  shake  their 
infant   Confederacy   to   its    center   quietly  interred   in   its  grave." 
(Jefferson's  Works,  Vol.  IX,  p.  248,  quoted  in  Bayley's   History  of 
the  National  Loans.) 
Jefferson  estimates  the  value  of  the  two  hundred  millions  of  Con- 
tinental   currency    at    the  time   of  its    emission   at   $36,367,719.83  in 
specie,  and  says  : 

"  If  we  estimate  at   the  same  value  the  like  sum    of  $200,- 
000,000    supposed    to    have    been    emitted  by  the  States,    and 
reckon  the  federal  debt,  foreign  and  domestic,  at  about  $43,000,- 
000,  and  the  State  debts  at  $25,000,000,  it  will  form  an  amount 
of  $140,000,000,  the  total  sum   which  the  war  cost  the   United 
States.      It  continued  eight  years  from  the   Battle  of  Lexington 
to  the  cessation  of  hostilities  in  America,     The  annual  expense 
was,    therefore,    equal    to    about    $17,500,000   in    specie,"     (Ibid. 
p.  260.) 
COUNTERFEITING.      The    Continental    bills    would    have 
rapidly    sunk    by    reason    of    the    enormous  quantity  issued,  even   if 
they  had  not  been   weighed  in   any  other  manner;  but  not  long  after 
the  appearance  of  the   first   issue,   the  country   was   inundated   with 
counterfeits  which  found  their  way  among   the  people,  and  hastened 
the  depreciation  and  fall  of  paper  money.     Counterfeiting  was  not  con- 
fined solely  to  individuals.      The   British  Government    also   embarked 
in   the  business.     (  Bolles'  Financial  History  of  the  United  Siates.) 

"On   the   9th  of  January,    1790,  Hamilton   made   his  report   to   the 
House  of  Representatives,  in   obedience  to  the  resolution  of  September 
21,1  789,  before  referred  to,  in  which  he  gave  many  reasons  for  assum- 
ing  the   debts  of  the  old   government   and  of  the  several  States,  and 
fuinished  a  plan  for  supporting  the  public  credit.      His  recommenda- 
tion was  finally  adopted,  and  embodied  in   the  act   making   provision 
for  the  payment  of  the  debt  of  the    United  States,  api)roved    August 
4,  1790,  I  I  Statutes,  138.)      (Bayley's  History  of  the   National  Loans.) 
By  the  act  above  cited  a  loan  to  the  full  value  of  the  domes- 
tic debt  was  authorized,  the  subscription  to  be  payable  in  certifi- 
cates issued  for  the  said  debt.      The   terms  of  subscription  as  to 
Continental  currency  were  as  folllows: 

"And  in  the  bills  of  credit  issued  by  the  authority  of  the 
United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  at  the  rate  of  0)ie  hundred 
dollars  in  the  said  bills,  for  one  dollar  in  specie." 

By  the  Act  of  March  3,  1797.  1  t  Stautes,  5i6\  it  was  declar- 
ed that  said  mone\-  should  be  receivable  as  above  until  December 
31,  1797,  and  no  longer. 


90 

By  the  Act  of  July  9,  1798,  (Ibd.  p,  580)  it  was  provided  that' 
"all  credits  on  books  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  for 
transactions  during  the  late  war,  which,  according  to  the  course  of 
the  Treasury,  have  hitherto  been  discharged  by  issuing  certificates 
of  registered  debt,  shall  be  forever  barred  and  precluded  from  settle- 
ment or  allowance,  unless  claimed  by  the  proper  creditors,  or  their 
legal  representatives  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  March,  in  the 
year  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-nine." 


CHAS.  BKST. 

VICE-I'RKST.    WISCONSIN    NATIONAL    ItANK.    >l  ILWAIK  KK 


DECISION  OF  THE  FIRST  COMPTROLLER.  In  a  claim 
submitted  by  the  Register  of  the  Treasury  under  date  of  June  5,  1886, 
asking  for  an  opinion  as  to  the  legal  authority  for  payment,  the  First 
Comptroller,  under  date  of  August  2,  1886,  decided  that: 

"Owing  to  the  loss  of  papers  and  documents  in  the*  Treasury 
Department,  first  by  fire  which  occurred  January  20,  1801,  second 
by  theincrusion  of  the  British,  August  24,  18 14,  and  third  by  the 
fire  of  March  31,  1833,  it  is  now  impossible  to  tell  what  was  the 
basis  of  said  claim,  or  the  evidence  of  its  payment,  if  it   was  ever 


91 

paid.  If  it  was  never  paid,  it  may  be  barred  by  the  act  of  July  9, 
1798,  "''■  '^  ■■*  and  is  so  barred  if  issued  to  pay  a  claim  em- 
braced b\-  that  act.  Whether  that  is  so  or  not,  1  am  of  the  opinion 
that  the  claim  should  not  now  be  paid,  on  account  of  the  long  lapse 
of  time  before  its  presentation  for  payment. 

LEGAL  TENDER  QUALITIES.  "The  question  has  been 
raised  and  disputed  as  to  whether  what  was  called  the  "Contin- 
ental currency,"  issued  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution  by  the  old 
Government,  was  or  was  not  legal  tender.  The  facts  appear  to  be 
that  while  the  Continental  Congress  did  not  by  any  ordinance  at- 
tempt to  give  it  that  character,  they  asked  the  States  to  do  so, 
and  all  seem  to  have  complied  except  Rhode  Island.  The  Con- 
tinental Congress  only  enacted  that  the  man  who  refused  to  take 
the  money  should  be  deemed  an  enemy  of  his  country.  George 
Washington  complained,  in  one  of  his  letters,  that  he  had  been 
obliged  to  receive  the  currency  at  par,  in  payment  of  a  debt,  when 
it  had  so  depreciated  that  its  value  was  almost  nominal."  (Bayley's 
History  of  the  National   Loans.) 

FESSENDEN    ON  "FINANCE." 

The  bill  for  the  issue  of  Legal  Tender  notes  was  approved 
February  25,  1862,  (  12  Stat.,  p.  345.)  Mr.  Fessenden,  in  his  speech 
in   the  Senate  oii   the  bill,  referring  to  the  legal  tender  clause,  said: 

"Nobody  knows  much  upon  the  question  of  finance,  not  even 
those  who  are  most  famil.ar  with  it ;  for,  sir,  I  declare  today  that, 
in  the  whole  number  of  learned  financial  men  that  I  have  consulted, 
I  never  have  found  any  two  of  them  who  agree,  and  therefore  it  is 
hardly  worth  while  for  us  to  plead  any  very  remarkable  degree  of 
ignorance  when  nobody  is  competent  to  instruct  us;  and  yet  such  is 
the  fact.  I  can  state  to  you,  Mr.  President,  that  on  one  day  I  was 
ad\ised  very  strongly  by  a  leading  financial  man,  at  all  events  to  oppose 
this  legal-tender  clause;  he  exclaimed  against  it  with  all  the  bitterness 
in  the  world.  On  the  \ery  same  day  I  received  a  note  from  a  friend  of 
his,  telling  me  that  we  could  not  get  along  without  it.  I  showed  it 
to  him,  and  he  expressed  his  utter  surprise.  He  went  home,  and 
the  next  day  telegraphed  to  me  that  he  had  changed  his  mind  and 
now  thought  it  was  absolutely  necessary  ;  and  his  friend  who  wrote 
to  me  again  that  he  had  changed  his,  and  they  were  two  of  the 
most  eminent  financial  men  in  the  country."  (Congressional  Globe,  2d 
Session  37th  Congress,  p.  766,  quoted  in  Bayley's  "History  of  the  Na- 
tional Loans,"  p.  80.) 

THE  WILES  OF  "GREEN  GOODS"  MEN. 

The  following  description  of  the  methods  of  a  very  numerous 
class  of  swindlers,  known  by  the  title  of  "Green  Goods  Men,"  or  "Bood- 
lers,"  is  taken  from  a  circular  letter  (Form  20)  of  the  Secret  Service 
Division  of  the  Treasury  Department.  Parties  offering  to  sell  counter- 
feit money  "never  deal  in  it,  but  make  a  pretense  of  doing  so  on  pur- 
pose to  inveigle  dishonest  persons — who  would  buy  counterfeit  money 


92 

if  they  could — into  parting  with  their  good  money  in  the  hope  of  get- 
ting counterfeit.  These  swindlers  are  usually  located  in  large  cities, 
but  New  York  contains  by  far  the  greater  number. 

They  send  circulars  in  imitation  of  letters  by  thousands  all  over 
the  country,  inviting  their  correspondents  to  visit  New  York,  nam- 
ing the  hotel  at  which  they  should  stop,  and  offermg  them  great 
inducements  to  purchase.  Those  who  go  after  such  bargains  never 
obtain  counterfeit  money,  and  seldom  return  home  without  leaving 
all  of  their  good  money  in  the  hands  of  these  plausible  but  dan- 
gerous men. 


i'i;i>n)i:.N  r   i  \i 


■lUSl     NAlUiNAI,    liA.NK,    Ul.TKOlT,    .MICH. 


In  August,  1S85.  James  T.  Holland,  of  Abilene,  Tex.,  allured 
to  the  City  of  New   York  by  a  circular         *  *  "^  *  " 

met  Tom  Davis  and  Theodore,  his  brother.  These  men,  while  ])re- 
tending  to  sell  Holland  ten  thousand  dollars  of  so-called  counter- 
feit money,  but  which  were  genuine  notes,  cheated  him  of  his  good 
money.  Holland,  at  once  discovering  the  cheat,  shot  Tom  Da\is, 
killing  him  instantly.      A  jury  subsequently  acquitted  Holland. 

Another  practice  is  to  toll  on  their  victims  by  sending  a  genuine 
one  or  two  dollar  note,  or  parts  of  the  same,  and  representing  them 
to  be  specimens  of  the  counterfeit  notes  thc\-   ha\'c  tor  sale. 


93 

Under  the  various  names  of  "Green  Articles,"  "Green  Cigars," 
"Green  Leaves,"  etc.,  they  offer  for  sale  counterfeit  money  which 
they  aver  is  printed  on  plates  stolen  from  the  Bureau  of  Engraving 
and  Prmting  of  the  Goxernment.  Not  a  plate  of  any  kind  has  ever 
been  stolen  from  that  establishment. 

Those  who  have  counterfeit  money  for  sale  do  not  write  letters 
requesting  strangers  to  buy  it.  Even  after  the  introduction  of  a 
new  man  by  one  counterfeiter  to  another,  it  takes  a  long  time  to 
establish  such  friendly  relations  as  would  induce  a  counterfeiter  to 
trust  a  new-comer. 


L.    .\.  C.ODDARD, 

CA.SIIIKK    I-(IRT    DKARBOItN    NATIONAL    HANK.    HIK  AGO.    ILL. 

Yet  thousands  of  criminally  foolish  people  believe  they  can 
purchase  counterfeit  money  as  they  would  butter  or  cheese,  and  in 
their  attempts  to  obtain  it,  are  robbed,  and  an  honest  public  sent- 
iment says,  "Serves  them   right." 

The  crime  of  which  the  "Boodler"  is  guilty  is  covered  by  Sec- 
tion No.  5480,  United  States  Revised  Statutes,  as  amended  and 
approved  March  2,  1889,  and  the  offender,  upon  conviction,  is  liabel 
to  a   fine  of  S500  and   imprisonment  for  eighteen  months.      It  is  next 


94 

to  impossible  to  obtain  le^^al  evidence  against  these  swindlers ;  and 
were  one  of  them  arrested  and  brought  to  trial,  the  testimony  of 
the  main  witness  (he  who  lost  tiie  money)  would  be  weakened  by 
the  fact   that  he  would  have  been  a  criminal  if  he  eoiild. 

PREMIUM   ON   COINS. 

(Circular  letter  of  Treasurer  U.  S.) 

(i)  The  Department  makes  no  distinction  between  the  various 
issues  of  coin  and  currency  of  the  United  States,  neither  reLeivi)tg  nor 
paying  a  prei)iiuvi  in  any  ease. 


N.   W.   HARRIS. 
SKNIDK    I'AltT.NER    Ol"    N.    W.    HAKRIS   A;    C* 


CHICArJO,    ILL. 


NOTI^:     None  of  the  coins  of  the  United  States    have   been 
"called  in."     All   statements   to    the   contrary  are  erroneous,  and 
their  origin  and  purport  unknown. 
(2)     Applications  for   list   of,  and   correspondence   in    relation  to, 

premium  coins,  should  be  addressed  to  some  of  the  COIN  DEALERS 

to  be  found  in  all  larire  cities. 


95 

CONFEDERATE  AND  STATE  HANK   NOTES. 

(Circular  letter  of  Treasurer  U.  S. 

Notes  issued  by  the  late  so-called  CONFEDERATE  States  of 
America,  and  by  the  various  STATE  BANKS,  are  not  redeemable  by 
the  United  States. 

GOLD  COINS  MINTED  BY   PRIVATE  PARTIES. 

The  only  denominations  of  gold  coins  whose  issue  was  authorized 
by  law  are  the  $20,  $iO  $5,  $3,  $2/2  and  $1  pieces.  Of  these  the 
coinage  of  the  $3  and  $[  pieces  was  discontinued  by  the  Act  ot  Sep- 
tember 26,  1890.  There  have  been  a  great  many  gold  coins,  of  de- 
nominations varying  from  25  cents  up  to  $50,  which  were  minted  by 
private  parties.  In  the  year  185  i  there  were  fifteen  minting  establish- 
ments in  the  United  States,  only  one  of  which  was  authorized  by  law. 
Many  of  the  coins  were  in  imitation  of  the  United  States  coins,  but 
the  greattr  portion  were  stamped  with  the  names  and  bore  the  devices 
and  legends  of  the  persons  by  whom   issued. 

The  Director  of  the  Mint  in  his  report  for  the  year  1840  observed: 
"It  seems  strange  that  the  privilege  of  coining  copper  should  be  care- 
fully confined  by  law  to  the  general  government,  while  that  of  coining 
gold  and  silver,  though  withheld  from  the  States,  is  freely  permitted 
to  individuals,  with  the  single  restriction,  that  they  must  not  imitate 
the  coinage  established  by  law." 

This  private  coinage  appears  to  have  been  confined  to  the  far 
Western  States,  especially  California,  and  the  State  of  North  Carolina. 
The  Mint  of  the  Bechtlers  in  the  State  last  named  seems  to  have  done 
an  extensive  busines>' — basing  the  assumption  upon  the  number  of 
coins  formerly  m  circulation. 

The  $50  piece,  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  "gold  slug"  was 
octagonal  in  shape,  and  was  regarded  as  a  novelty  on  account  of  its 
shape  and  general  design,  as  well  as  its  extraordinary  size.  The  50 
cent  and  25  cent  pieces  were  coined  in  California  and  Colorado.  They 
are  extremely  rare,  and,  on  this  account,  are  frequently  counterfeited. 
There  was  also  coined  a  piece  known  as  the  "Twenty-five  dollar  piece 
ofTempleton   Reid." 

The  majority  of  the  coins  issued  by  private  parties  were  of  the 
same  denomination  as  the  coins  of  the  United  States.  As  these 
private  coins  were  not  authorized  ^although  permitted)  by  law,  they 
are  not  redeemable  by  Government,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  none  of 
them  are  in  the  Treasury.  Applications  for  any  of  the  coins  referred 
to,  or  any  correspondence  on  the  subject,  should  be  addressed  to  some 
of  the  numerous  dealers  in  rare  coins  to  be  found  in  all  large  cities. 
(Compiled  principally  from    Eckfeldt   &   Du   Bois' "Manual  of  Coins," 

1S51  j 

ORIGIN   OF  THP:  dollar  mark  ($) 

The  dollar  unit,  as  a  money  of  account,  was  established  by  Act  of 
Congress  of  April  2,  1792,  and  the  same  Act  provides  for  the  coinage 
of  a  silver  dollar  of  the  value  of  a  Spanish  milled  dollar  as  the  same  is 


95 


<:/9'.£'yi^i^  ^(9  y^^  ^^/  /^  <*  ^ 


^.^*t^i^ 


.^-^^^^■V'^.V^Xt, 


y 


4^ 


31 


■•t«^^ 


OIKICERS   t)K 

THK   PkKI-HKKKlJ  HANKHRS'   MFK  ASSURANCE  COMPANY, 

t)l'      MICHIGAN. 


97 

now  current.  It  was  the  Spanish  pillar  dollar  (^called  also  the  milled 
dollar  from  its  milled  edgeithat  was  taken  as  the  basis  of  the  United 
States  coinage  and  money  of  account. 

Spanish  dollars  were  chiefly  coined  in  the  Spanish-  \nieiican 
colonies.  The  best  known  \ariety  was  the  i)illar  dollar,  so-called  from 
the  two  pillars  on  its  reverse,  rejjresenting  the  "Pillars  of  Hercules," 
the  ancient  name  of  the  opposite  promontories  at  the  Straits  of  Gibr- 
altar. The  rude  imitations  of  these  pillars  in  writmg,  connecting  them 
with  a  scroll,  is  said  to  have  been  the  origin  of  the  dollar  mark  (S). 
Another  explanation  is  that,  as  the  dollar  consistsof  8  reals  (8  R  being 
stamped  upon  it  I,  the  mark  was  designed  to  stand  for  the  "piece  of 
eight,"  as  the  dollar  was  commonly  called,  the  two  vertical  lines  being 
employed  to  distinguish  it  from  the  figure  8.  (Compiled  from  Apple- 
ton's  Cyclopaedia,  title  "Dollar.'  ) 

"One  writer  says  it  comes  from  the  letters  U.  S.  (United  States), 
which,  after  the  adoption  of  the  F"ederal  Constitution,  were  prefixed  to 
the  Federal  currency,  and  which  afterwards,  in  the  hurry  of  writing, 
were  run  into  one  another;  the  U  being  made  first  and  the  S  over  it. 
Another,  that  it  is  derived  from  the  contraction  of  the  Spanish  word 
pesos,  dollars,  ox  pesos  ftiertes,  hard  dollars.  A  third,  that  it  is  a  con- 
traction for  the  Spanish  fuertes,  hard,  to  distinguish  silver  or  hard 
dollars  from  paper  money.  The  more  probable  explanation  is  that  it 
is  a  modification  of  the  figures  JJ  formerly  used  to  denote  a  piece  of 
eight  reals,  or,  as  a  dollar  was  then  called,  a  pieee  of  eight."  ("Bart- 
lett's  Dictionary  of  Americanisms.") 

'"As  to  my  boat  it  was  a  very  good  one,  and  that  he  saw,  and  told 
me  he  would  buy  it  of  me  for  the  ship's  use;  and  asked  me  what 
I  would  have  for  it.  I  told  him  that  I  could  not  offer  to  make  any 
price  of  the  boat,  but  left  it  entirely  to  him;  upon  which  he  told 
me  he  would  give  me  a  note  of  hand  to  pay  me  eighty  pieces  of 
eight  {ox  it  in  Brazil."  (Robinson  Crusoe,  c[uoted  in  "Bartlett's 
Dictionary  of  Americanisms.") 

Of  the  many  theories  advanced,  several  of  which  are  plausit^le,  it 
is  difificult  to  determine  to  which  the  most  weight  should  be  given,  but 
inasmuch  as  the  Spanish  pillar  dollar  has  on  its  reverse  two  j:)illars, 
from  each  of  which  floats  a  scroll  similar  in  shape  to  an  S,  and  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  the  Spanish  pillar  dollar  was  taken  as  the  basis  of 
American  coinage,  the  theory  that  the  dollar  mark  was  derived  from  the 
pillar  and  scroll  (8)  is  surely  entitled  to  much  consideration;  but  a  great 
deal  may  be  said  in  favor  of  the  "piece  of  eight "  (8),  with  the  two 
pillars  II,  written  thus:  ($),  which  would  result,  when  rapidly  written, 
in  the  eight  bearing  a  similarity  to  the  letter  S  The  theor>'  as  to  the 
letters  U.  S.  (L'nited  Sta'esi,  written  one  o\er  the  other,  appears  to  be 
based  merely  upon  sentiment. 

"PILLARS  OF  HERCULES."  Among  the  ancient  peoples 
of  the  East  there  were  many  versions  of  miraculous  deeds  performed 
by  such  wonderful  beings  as  Hercules,  or  Herakles.  The  researches 
of  modern  scholars,  however,  have  showd  these  tales  to  be  nothing 
more  or  less  than   Sun-myths.        The    Phoenicians    regarded    the  op- 


98 

posite  promontories  at  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  as  the  Western  limits 
of  the  land — all  beyond  was  a  vast,  unknown  extent  of  water,  ap- 
parently "world  without  end,"  When  Herakles  (the  Sum  had  run 
his  brilliant  course  through  the  heavens,  and  slowly  retired  at  the 
close  of  day  into  the  "dark  unfathomed  caves,"  the  glorious  picture 
as  seen  between  these  two  noble  promontories  might  well  suggest 
the  designation: — "The  Pillars  of  Hercules." 

WILLARD   FORESTER  WARNER, 

Washington,  D.  C. 


IMUNIGIPflL  BONDS 


(Not  Subject  to  Federal  Taxation 


Pledging  the  faith  and 
credit  and  the  real  and 
personal  property  of  the 
corporation  are  second 
only  to  U.  S.  Government 
Bonds  in  point  of  security, 
while  yielding  a  much 
higher     rate    of    interest. 


w.  J.  mm  &  SONS 


BANKERS 


7  EXCHANGE  PLACE 

BOSTON,  MASS. 


311-313  SUPERIOR  ST. 

CLEVELAND,  OHIO,  U.S.A. 


WE  BUY  AND  SELL 


Cf\BL&    fVDDRESS    "KENNETH" 
i 


F 


(191) 


IRST 


ESTABLISHED 
1863 


INATIOINAL  BANK 

KALAMAZOO,  MICH. 


CAPITAL  -         -         -         -     $100,000.00 

SURPLUS  AND  PROFITS         -     $150,000.00 

Loans  430,000  Depo^its  450,000 


Collections  a  Specialty 


L.  M.  GATES,  Pres         F.  N.  ROWLEY,  Cashier 
J.  W.  OSBORN,  Vice-President 

Mercantile  National  Batik,  N.   V. 

National  Hank  Illinois,  C/iiraeo 


JaS.  W.  English.  President  Jno.   K.  Oftley,  Cashier 

Jas.  R   Gray,  Vice  President  Chas.  I    Ryan.  Assistant  Cashier 


American  Trust  &  Banking  Co. 


ATLANTA,   GEORGIA 


CAPITAL,  -  _  _  _  $500,000.00 

SURPLUS  AND  PROFITS,       -  -  -  $40,000.00 


LARGEST  CAPITAL  OF  ANY  BANK  IN  ATLANTA 


Liability  same  as  National  Banks 
Transacts  a  General  Banking:  Business 


COLLECTIONS 

We    make    a    specialty  of    COLLECTIONS    and   have  Superior 
Facilities  for  handling  business  throughout  the  State 

Any   information  cheerfully  furnished.     Write  us  for  terms 


CORRESPONDENTS 


American  Exchange  National  Bank,   New  York 
independence  National  Bank,  Philadelphia 

iii 


THE  PEOPLE'S  BANK 

OF  BUFFALO,  NEW  YORK 

CflPITALi     -     -     $300,000  SUJ^PIiUS     -     -     $100,000 

President,  DANIEL,  0'I>AY.     Vice  President,  ARTHUR  D.  BISSELL 
Cashier,   C.  W.  HAMMOND 


BOARD   OF   DIRECTORS 
DANIKI.  O'DAV  ........  Standard   Oil  Company 

CHA.S.   I'.   BISHOP,    Mayor  of  City  of  itiitlalo,  Wliolesale  Teas,  Coilees  and  Spices 

P.  H.  GKIFFIN  .......  New  Vorlt  Car  Wheel  Works 

<iEO.  H.  r.KWIS,  of  Bell  &  Lewis,  ....      Sliiiera  and  Wholesale  Coal 

K.  O.  S.  MII.I.KK  ,  .........       Brewer 

W.  H.  GUAN<;KI{,  ......  Wholesale  (irocer 

JOHN   HI'OIIKS,  of  .Swope,  HngheH,  Waltz  A;   Benstead  Live  Stork  Dealers 

CLAKKNCK  W.    HAMMO.ND,  ........  Cashier 

W.  KICHAHD>ON     ..........  Capitalist 

WILI>IAM  W.  SI.OAN  .........  Malster 

,IOHN  M.  ItKINKKH,  of  Drinker  &  Jones  Miners  and  Wholesale  Coal 

■JOHN  T.  STEWART,  of  Stewart  Bros.  .....        Wholesale  Lumber 

ARTHUR  D.  BISSELL  ........  Vice  President 

THE  PEOPLE'S  BANK  can  handle  COLLECTIONS   to    advantage    in    ButValo    and 
vicinity,  also  all  points  East  an<l  WeAt,  and  will  be  plea.sed  to  Iiave  your   patronage. 

Se"nd  your  Collections  to  THE    PEOPLE'S  BANK. 

iv 


-     :        THE^       :     ■ 


Central  National  Bank 


(PERRY=PAYNE  BUILDING) 


CLEVELAND,    OHIO 


COTVTTU^eNCED    BVJSIISeSS    7UTKY    26th,    IS90 


CKRITKL-        -       -       $500,000.00 


THOMAS  WILSON.  President  JOSEPH   BLACK,  Vice  President 

J.  J.  SULLIVAN,  Cashier  C.   A.  PAINE,  Ass't  Cashier 


DIREOTORS 


JOSEPH  BLACK,  of  the  D.  Black  Cloak  Company 

N.  C.  BREWER,  President  Cleveland  Rubber  Paint   Company 

WILLIAM  CHISHOLM,  Sr.,  Iron  Manufacturer  and  owner  of  Chisholm  Steel  Shovel  Works 

JOHN  H.  FARLEY,  Brass  Founder,  and  Ex-Mayor  of  Cleveland 

H.  P.  MCINTOSH,  Counselor  and  Ajrent  of  Hon.  H.  P.  Payne  and  Col    Oliver  H.  Payne 

C.  MORRIS,  President  Morris  Coal  Company 

E.  W.  OGLECAY.  Iron  Ore  Merchant  and  President  Nat.  Bank  of  West  Va.,  Wheeling 

CHARLES  L.  PACK,  Pack,  Gray  and  Company,  Wholesale  Lumber 

B.  L.  PENNINGTON,  of  The  Lockwood-Taylor   Hardware  Company 

J.  J.  SULLIVAN.  Cashier 

THOMAS  WILSON,  Vessel  Owner  and  President  Wilson   Transit  Company 


The  record  and  business  standini,'  of  the  jrentlemen  comprising  the  Board  of  Directors 
will  be  a  jruarantee  of  careful,  conservative  management. 

We  invite  correspondence,  or  a  personal  interview  with  a  view  to  business. 


FIRST  NATIONAL 
..BANK.. 


PAID-UP  CAPITAL, 
SURPLUS 


$500,000 
$55,000 


WACO,  TEXAS 


E.   ROTAN,    President 

WM.   CAMERON  ) 
TOM    PADGITT     \ 


Vice    Presidents 

J.   K.   ROSE,   Cashier 

R    F.  GRIBBLE,  Ass't  Cashier 
vi 


C- 


Vres^A^^^.  D.  (^°'''' 


GlOti 


Vl\^N\^* 


V\ce- 


.Vres^Ae^^   -. 


m^lt 


m^ 


^i\H^^^ 


N^O. 


\  f.tt-^^'^V^^'''''' 


Vll 


Dgs  Moines  Mm  Bank 


DES  MOINES,  IOWA 


OHPITKL  ....  $300,000 


TRANSACTS  ANY  BUSINESS 
CONNECTED  WITH 
BANKING 


...COLLECTIONS... 

Carefully    made   and    proceeds    promptly    accounted  for 
on    moderate   terms 


KVERKGe    DEPOSITS        •        $1,000,000 


P.    M     CASADY,    President 

G.   M.   HIPPEE,    Vice   President 

SIMON   CASADY,   Cashier 


viu 


Ml-:i)I'URI)   H.    WILSON.   PKi  siniNT 


W.M.   !■.   CIHRCIIMAN,  casmikk 


The  Capital  National  Bank 

INDIANAPOLIS,  IND. 


^  f.^,  -^  •^•--     ^. . .  ^ 


CAPITAL  STOCK,        -        $300,000  SURPLUS  AND  EARNINGS,     -     $50,000 

ESPECIAL  FDCILITIES  FOR  MAKING  COLLECTIONS  Oil  ALL  POIIITS  IK  INCUKA 


IX 


BSTfVBLISfiED     1865 


THE 


ID 


FIRST 

NATIONAL 

BANK 


OF( 


EAST  SAGINAW    =     =    MICHIGAN 


Cf\PITfVL 
SURPLUS 


SIOO.OOO 
SIOO.OOO 


SPECIAL  ATTENTION  GIVEN  TO  COLLECTIONS 


E.  T.  JUDD,  President 


CLARENCE   L.  JUDD,  Cashier 


r 


■j   < 


CO 
"  < 

-2 
5< 

■T. 

o 
-r 


XI 


L.  C.  NELSON,  President  H.  M.  NOKL,  Vice  Pres.  C.  W.  ISAACS,  Cashier 


No,   1112 


TfHE 


ST.  LOUIS  NATIONAL  BANK 


ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 


(ESTABLISHED    1857) 


CAPITAL   STOCK,  =  =  $1,000,000.00 

SURPLUS  =  =  =  $150,000.00 


DIRECTORS 


L   C.  Nelson  H.  M.  Noel 

W.  T.  Anderson  J.  B.  M.  Kehlor 

G.  Paddock  F.  Mitchell 

Jno   S.  Culi  in  F.  H.  McKittrick 

A.  K.  Root  Jas.  m.  nelson 

Calvin  F.  Burnes 


ALL  THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  SAFETY 
AND  CONSERVATIVE 
BANKING  OFFERED 

xii 


NO.      -4939 


First  National  Bank  of  Buchanan  County 

ST.   JOSEPH,    MISSOURI 

Gf\PITf\L         =        =        =        $500,000.00 

Accounts  of  banks,  bankers,  corporations 
and  individuals  respectfully  solicited 


--«mtm«m»«i 


-COLLECTION     DEPARTMENT    f\     SPECIALTY 


J.    M.    I-ORI)  I 

S.  C.   WOODSON,   rresidtiit        li.   li.    I'R.^ZHR 

A.    KIRKIWTKICK  I 

E.  C.   H.\RT\VI<;,  .\s,st  Cashier 


OFFIC&RS  

Vice  Presidents        J.  \V.  Mc.M.ISTKR.  Cashier 
J  r  I.I  IS  R0SI-;XHI..\TT.  211(1  .Asst  Cashier 


DIRECTORS 


John  1*.  H.\x of  Hax  Bros.,  Capitalists 

A.  KiKKP.xTRiCK Capitalist 

Loris  H.AX  Pres.  Loui.s  Ha.x  Furniture  Co. 

C.  .\.  CoNNETT..Pres.  St.  Joseph  Pres.sed  Brick  Co. 
KnwARi)  C.  .Smith....  Pres.  C.  D.  Smith  Drug  Co. 
\V.  C.  Brown .        

C.en'l  Mgr.  Burlington  Route  in  Missouri 

B.  B.   Fr.\zkk I'resident  Park  Bank 

C.  A.   Hiii.\CHKR Capitalist 


Capitalist 

.  ..of  R.  L.  McDonald  &  Co. 


J.   M.    Im)RI) 

R.   I-.   McI»<)N.\LI> 

W.  S.  Hkndrick 

Treas.  (ieo.  A.  Kennard  (irocery  Co. 

Dr.  C.  K.  Woodson '. 

Siipt.  Slate  Lunatic  Asylum  No.  2 

C.  W.  Wii.Li.v.MS Banker,  Seneca,  Kansas 

S.  C.  Woodson President 

J.  W.  Mc.\i.isti;r Cashier 


J.  M.  Fori 


DISCOUNT     COMMITEE 

Loris  H.A.v  Hdw.  C.  S.mitii  J.  W.  Mc.Alistkr  S.  C.  Woodson 


Xlll 


TfiB 


GALVESTON  NflTIONflL  BANK 


GALVESTON,  TEXAS 


cAPrrAL 


MBSOO.OOO 


T.  J.  CjROCE,  President  H.  A.  LANDES,  Vice  President 

A.  J.  COMPTON,  Cashier 


SEND  US  ALL  OF  YOUR  TEXAS  COLLECTIONS 

xiv 


XV 


CALVIN  HOOD,  President 

W.  T.  SODEN,  Vice  President 


L.  T.  HERITAGE,  Cashier 

J.  M.  STEELE,  Assistant  Cashier 


Capital  $100,000.     Surplus  $100,000 


Fmporia  National  B4NK 

EMPORIA,  KANSAS 

PROMPT  ATTENTION  PAID  TO  COLLECTIONS 


XVI 


Rudolph  Kleybqlte  I  Hompany 


...INVESTMENT  BANKERS- 


STATE,  COUNTY,  mUNICIPAL  AND  SCHOOL 

...BONDS... 


SPECIRLiLiY   ADAPTED    FOR 


SAVINGS   BANKS 
TRUST  COMPANIES 
AND  INVESTORS 


MUNlCIPflLi    OFFICEHS     HAVING     LiOANS     TO    NEGOTIATE 
ARE   SOLilCITED   TO  CORRESPOND   WITH    US 


INVESTIVIEIMT    UISTS    |VI  R  I  U  E  D    ON     APPLilCATION 


MASONIC  TEMPLE.     •:•     ••••     CINCINNATI,  OHIO 


XVI 1 


FIRST  NATIONAL   BANK 

HELENA,  MONTANA 

Capital  and  Profits,  $1,000,000 
Average  Deposits,     $3,000,000 


S.  T.  1IAUS1:R.  Presidtnt 
GEO.  F.  COPK,  Casliicr 


i:.  \).  KDGKRTON,  VicePicsidcnt 
GKO.  H.  HILL,  Asst.  Cashier 


L)o  a   ^enerril   Hanl-cinj^  l)ijsiness 
Collect   on   all    western    points 


will 


1016 


THE  PIRST  NflTIONflL  BANK 

DENVER,   COLORADO 

THE    OLDEST   NATIONAL    BANK    IN    COLORADO 

CAPITAL    AND    SURPLUS  -  -  -  $1,000,000.00 

A  GENERAL  BANKING  BUSINESS  TRANSACTED 


H.   MOFFAT,   President 

S.   CHHRSMAN,   Vice   President 


G.   E.    ROSvS-LEWIN.  Cashier 
THOMAS  KEFXV,   Asst.  Cashier 
J.   A.   VICKERS,  2d  Asst.  Cashier 


ACCOUNTS  OF  BANKS  AND  BANKERS  INVITED 

Special  Attention  Given  to  Western  Collections,  and  Remittance  Made  on  day  of 
Receipt  at  Most  Favorable  Rates 


STATEMENT 

Of  the  condition    of  the    FIRST    NATIONAL    BANK,    DENVER,    COL. 

close  of  business,   December  22,   1876: 


at   the 


ASSETS. 

I, oans  and  Discounts $  648,105  86 

r.  S    Bonds 100,000  00 

Other  Stocks  and  Bonds  3-267  45 

Cash  on  Hau<l  and  bij<ht  Ex.  269,042  01 

R^^al  F;slate,  I'urn.  &  Fix 33.404  30 

Current  Hxp- nsts  and  Ta.xes 

paid  6,709   23 

Preiniinns  Paid 10,000  00 


LIABILITIES. 

Capital  and  Profits $  319,798   10 

Circulating  Notes  44,900  00 

Total  Deposits  705,830  85 


11,070,528  95    I  11,070,528  95 

STATE/WENT 

of  the    condition    of  the    FIRST    NATIONAL    BANK    OF    DENVER,    COL.,    at 
close  o.^  business,  March   5,   1895. 


RESOURCES. 

Loans  and  Discounts ^>3. 998, 715  43 

r    S    Bonds,  Circulation 2cxj,ooo  00 

Premiums 37,114  98 

I, oi-al  Securities 189,821   96 

Keal  Instate '9.395  00 

r.  .S.  Bonds,  Deposits  15CJ  ooo  00 

Due  from  Banks 1,510,061   95 

C.ish   on    Hand 1,664,500  89 

57,769,610  21 


LIABILITIES. 

Capital  Stock $    500,000  (x) 

Surplus  550,26852 

Circulation 180,000  00 

Deposits 6.539,341  69 


57,769.610  21 

NEW    YORK    CORRESPONDENTS— First  National  Bank.        Fourth  National  Itaiik. 
Aiiierioaii   Kxchang:e  National  Itank.     National   Park  and  Mechanics  National  Itank. 
CHICAGO  COKKESPONDENT     Cbicaso  National   Hank 
IvONOON  AfiENTS— Brown,  Shipley  &  Co. 


XIX 


HooE.  Brownuee  &  Co. 
BANKERS 


Butte  City (Dontana 


TRflNSflCT    A 
GEHERflU   BANKING 
BUSINESS  .... 


COLiliECTIOHS     A     SPECIAbTY 


HOGE,  DALiV  8t  CO 


ANACONDA 

XX 


H    G    THOMAS,  President         E.  W.  DOWDEN.  Vice-President         F.  L.  DOBBIN,  Casiiier 


THE 


ommm  NflTiONfli  bank 

OflPITflL,    S50.000 

OKLflHOMfV  GITY,  O.  T, 
1 


COLLECTIONS 

Made  in    Indian   Territory  and   Oklahoma    Territory 


INQUIRY  IN   REGARD  TO  INVESTMENTS  IN  OKLAHOMA 
PROMPTLY   ANSWERED 

xxi 


C.  W.  GIBSON,   President 

B.  G.  CONNOR,  Vice-President 


R.  G.   PHILLIPS,  Cashier 

H.   H.   DUNN,  2d  Vice-President 


FIRST 
HATIGHAL 

BRHK 


CKPITKL 


SURRLUS    - 


$100,000 
$20,000 


WAXAHACHIE,  TEXAS 


Collections  •  Pi^omply  •  JVIade 


ON   fllili  flCCESSlBliE   POINTS 


XXll 


J.  J.   SOriKR,   President  \VM.    C.    HKNRICI.   Cashier 

S.   B.   ARMOUR,  Vice-President  C.   N.   PROUTV,   Asst.   Cashier 


NO.      -4381 


Inier-Siaie  National  BaoK 


THE  ONLY  BANK  LOCATED  AT  THE  STOCK  YARDS 


KANSAS  CITY 


POST  OFFICE  ADDRESS 


STATION  A,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 


Member  of  the  Kansas  City.  Mo.,  Clearing  House 


RKID    \J^  OKPITHI- 


$1,000,000.00 


COLLECTIONS  A  SPECIALTY 

Made  on   all   Points   in   the   United   States  and  Canada 


ACCOUNTS   OF   BANKS,   BANKERS,   CORPORATIONS   AND    INDIVIDUALS    RECEIVED 

UL  BUSIKESS  IMTRUSTEO  TO  US  WILL  HtVE  PROMPT  AND  CIREFUt  UTTEIITIOII 


DIRECTORS 


CiKo.  W.  Williams,  Seneca,  Kan. 

Tho.m.^s  Kirby.  Abilene.   Kan. 

J.  C.   Ro<;ers,  Waniego,  Kan. 

I,KK  Clark.    Parsons,  Kan. 

C.  Hoon.  Kniporia,   Kan. 

J.  V.  ,\NDRKWS,  Kansas  City,   Kan. 

S.  }5.  Armovr,  Kansas  City.   Mo. 

C.   W.  McKnic.ht.  Junction  City.  Kan. 

J.  J.  SguiER,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 


L.  V.  McKek,  Frankfort,  Kan. 
E.  N.  Morrill,  Hiaw.itha,  Kan. 
J.  D.  Robertson,  Jewell  City.  Kan. 
J.  R.  MuLVANE,  Topeka,   Kan. 
John  R.  Foster.    C.arnett.   Kan. 
FoKi)  F.  Harvey.  Kansas  City,  Mo. 
C.   F.   Morse,  Kans-is  City.   Mo. 
M     K    PL  ATT.  Kansas  City.   Mo. 


XXlll 


The  First  National  Banl( 

OF 

ALBUQUERQUE 


UNITED  STATES  DEPOSITORY 


NBW  MEXICO 


CAPITAL 
SURPLUS 

TOTAL 


$100,000 
oO,000 

$150,000 


JOSHUA  S.  RAYNOLDS,  President 
M.  W.  FLOURNOY,  Vice  President 


A.  A.  KEEN,  Cashier 
FRANK  McKEE.  Asst.  Cashier 


DEPOSITS,  $900,000 


CORRESPONDENTS— Chemical  National  Bank,  N.  Y. 
First  National  Banl<.  Chicago 


XXIV 


BUSINESS  tSTABLISHED  1873 


JORRLMON  6c  GO. 

Bf\NKERS 

Financial  f\06iiis  and  Mmm 

229  TO  235  Equitt^ble  Building 

DENVER,  GOL 


INVESTMENTS   IN 

BONDS.  MORTGAGES 
AND  REAL  ESTATE 


COLLECTIONS  ON  COLORADO  POINTS 


Invesiigate,  aj^ipraise  and  report  impartially  upon  Real  P^state,  Industrial 
and  Mining  Properties. 

Act  as  Attorneys  in  the  foreclosure  and  reconstruction  of  defaulted  mort- 
gages and  other  securities. 

Represent  non-residents    in  the  general  management  of  their  interests. 

Complete  facilities  and  extended  experience  guarantee  prompt  and 
efficient  service. 

XXV 


NO.   1833. 


TI16  First  National  BanK  oi  FueDio. 

CObORADO. 


Illnitcb  states  IDcpositori?. 


Capital  -  -  =  $  300,000. 
Surplus  and  Profits  ■=  200,000. 
Average  Deposits     =  2,000,000. 

ESTABLISHED    1871 

The  Laraesi  and   Oldest  Bankincj  Institution  in  Southern  Colorado, 
Transacts  a  General  Banking  Business. 

Special  Attention  Given  to  Collections. 

M  D.  THATCHER,  President.  JOHN  A.  THATCHER,  Vice-President. 

R.  F    LYTLE,  Cashier. 

xxvi 


NO.    2300 

THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  BANK 

OF   TRINIDAD,    COL. 

CAPITAL      -         -       $100,000  SURPLUS       -        -      $100,000 

A  General  Banking  Bubiness  Transacted. 
Prompt  Attention  Given  to  Collections. 


M    D.   THATCHER,   President 

D.   A.  CHAPPKLL,  Vice  President 


H.  J.   ALKXANDKR,   Cashier 
J.   C.  HUDELSON,  Asst.  Cashier 


XX\    1 


TI16  Film  National  Banii  oi  Gincinnaii. 


CnjtUstl 

Siirftliia  !itt<l  I'm  fits 


SrtOO.ODO.OO. 


OFFICERS  : 
ROBERT    M.    NIXON,    President, 

Kx-I)e]>iity  Ci)iiii)tri)llcr  of  tlif  Ciim-iicv. 
CHAS.    A.    HINSCH,  Cashier. 

T.    J.    DAVI5,     Assistant   Cashier. 


lL)oiir  Collections  SolicitcD. 


Ipronipt  IRcturns. 
x.wiii 


Xowest  TRatc^. 


0.  FURTH,  President. 


E.  C.  NEUFEUDER,  Vice-President. 
R.  V.  Ar>lKENY,  Cashier. 


The  Pnget  Sound  National  Bank  of  Seattle, 


SEATTliE,     LUASH. 


I 


Capital 
Surplus 


$600,000.00. 
120,000.00. 


XXIX 


The  First  National    Bank 


OF 


EL  PASO,  TEXftS 


CKRITA  L 


$1<)0,00<) 
25,000 

$12.">.00() 


JOSIU'A  S.    RAVXOLDS,    I'rcsuluiil 
M     \V     l-LOrRNOV,   Vice  President 


ULYSSES  S.    STEWART,   Cashier 
JOSI-PH    I".    vVII.MAMS,    Asst.   Cashie: 


WE  BUY  AND  SELL 


MEXIOA^N  SIL^VBH  AND 

MBXIUA^N  BJlCHANGB 


X  X  X 


o 


o 
o 


Ob 

fc 

a: 

o 

a 

^ 

^ 

< 

PQ 

>j 

c 

;a 

J 

u 

< 

V 

Z 

o 

XXXI 


T.  B.  WALLACE,  Pres.  JNO.  S.  BAKER,  Vice  Pres.  P.  C.  KAUFFMAN,  Cash. 

Fidelity  Trust  Ca 

TtCOMA.  WASHINGTON 


PAID    UP   CAPITAL 


$500,000 


TRANSACTS  A  GENERAL   BANKING   BUSINESS 

ACTS  AS  TRUSTEE,  EXECUTOR,  OR 
IN  ANY   FIDUCIARY  CAPACITY 


T.   ]',.   WALLACK 

CHESTER  THORNE 


TRUSTEES 

JOHN  S.   BAKER 
(GEORGE  BROWNE 

xxxii 


L.  I).  CAMPBELL 
C.   W.   GRIGGS 


The  First  National  Banl( 

OF  CHICAGO. 


Paid 

in  Capital 

= 

$3,000,000. 

SurpI 

us 

"        ' 

3.000,000. 

OFFICERS: 

LYMAN 

J.  GAGE 

,  President. 

JAS.  B. 

FORGAN, V 

'ice=President. 

RICHARD 

J.  STREET,  Cash 
HOLIES    HOQE, 

'er. 

Ass't  Cashier. 

FRANK    E 

.  BROWN,  2d  Ass't 

Cashier 

XXXI 11 


•fc* 


i»i      law 


^J|B^>- 


'  i 


-^'  i^i  v^f 


:    ■ 


THE    B'PVNKERS   Nf\TIONf\L    Bf^NK' 

CHICAGO,    ILLINOIS. 


Capital 


$1,000,000. 


OFFICERS 

E.   S.   LACEY,  I'rcsuleiit. 

OEORC.lv  S.   I.ORI),  -^11(1  Vii-e  I'rcsicUnt. 
J.  C.  McNAfC.HTcjN,  Asst.Cashiii-.  FRANK   1'.   jrDSoN.  2\\<.\  Asst.  CasliK-r 


1).   I!.   1)I-;\V1-:Y,  vice  I'lcsidcnt. 
JOHN  C.  CRAI-T,  Casliiir. 


XXXIV 


C.  H.  HACKLEY,  President. 

THOS.  nUNROE,  2nd  Vice  President. 


C.  T.  HILLS,  Vice  President. 
GEO.  A.  ABBOTT,  Cashier. 


HACKLEY  NATIONAL  BANK. 

IWOSKEGON,    MICH. 


Capital 

$100,000. 

Surplus 

50,000. 

DIRECTORS  : 

C.  H.  HACKLEY. 

L.  Ci.  MASON. 

C.    T. 

HILLS. 

LUTHER  WHITNEY. 

THOS.    HUME. 

THOS.    MUNROE. 

GEO.    A. 

ABBOTT 

XXXV 


Preston  National  Bank, 

DETROIT,    MICHIGAN. 


CAPITAL, 


$1,000,000. 


F.  W.  HAYES,  President.  A.  E.  F.  WHITE,  Vice=President. 

H.  L.  O'BRIEN,  Cashier.  J.  P.  OILMORE,  Auditor. 

DIFJECTORS. 

F.   \V.   HAYES.  C.   A.   BLACK.  \VM.   H.  ELLIOTT.  JAS.  E.  DAVIS. 

JAS.  D.  STANDISH.  JOHN  CANFIKLD.  A.  E.  F.  WHITE. 

A.  L.  STEPHEN'S.  JEROME  CROl'L.  J.  B.  BOOK.  II.  K.  WHITE. 


The  buiintss  of  this  Bank  was  establishfd  l\v  David  Preston  in  1S52.  The 
present  organization  dates  from  July,  1887. 

The  Hank  does  a  large  business  with  individuals,  firms,  corporations,  banks 
and  bankers,  and  solicits  business  from  all  such,  tendering  the  attention  and 
courtesies  given  by  banks  conducted  in  a  sale,  conservative  and  promjit 
manner. 


xxxvi. 


THE     FIRST     NATIONAL     BANK 

OF    DULUTH 

Capital         -         -         -         .         .      |i,ooo,ooc). 
Surplus 200,000. 

The  American  Exchange  Bank 

OF    DULUTH. 

Capital 1500,000. 

Surplus  ------       385,000. 

THE    mARHSlE    HatioHau    baHk 

OF    DULUTH. 

Capital $200,000. 

Surplus  ------         33,000. 

THE   NATIONAL   BANK  OF  COMMERCE 

OF    DULUTH. 

Capital         -----         $200,000. 
Surplus  ------         27.000. 

THE    STATE    BANK 

OF    DULUTH. 

Capital         -----         |ioo,ooo. 
Surplus  ------        40,000. 

THE     SECURITY     BHNK 

OF    DULUTH. 

Capital $100,000. 

Surplus 40,000. 

THE  IRON  EXGHf\NGE>  BftNK 

OF    DULUTH 

Capital         -----         $100,000. 
Surplus 8,500. 

Duiuili  Giearino  House  flssociaiion. 

xxxvii 


Zbc  pvctcncb  Bankers 

Xife  Hssuvancc  Company 

OF    MICHIGAN  )}<  )i( 


This  assurance  company  was  organized  by  one  hundred  prominent  Michigan 
l)ankers  and  business  men,  nearly  every  city  of  importance  in  the  state  being  repre- 
sented by  one  or  more  of  its  leading  citizens,  as  incorporators. 


75     GUKRKNTEE     F=\^ND 

This  fund  is  accuinulated  by  the  payment  of  fifty  cents  for  every  year  of  a  members  age  on  each 
certificate  of  ji.ooo,  and  may  lie  secured  by  four  notes  on  two  years'  time  drawing  six  per  cent,  pay- 
able in  quarterly  installments.  A  man  at'the  age  of  forty  puts  S20  into  the  guarantee  fund  on  each 
51,000  of  insurance.  This  fund  is  held  as  security  or  collateral  to  the  payment  of  premiums,  and  is 
returned  to  the  l)eneficiar\-  at  the  death  of  a  member,  but  on  failure  to  pay  is  forfeited  to  this  com- 
pany, and  is  at  once  transferred  to  the  surplus  fund  to  pay  death  losses  when  the  deaths  shall 
amount  to  more  than  one  per  cent  of  the  membership,  or  10  to  each  1,000.  F;ach  member's  guarantee 
fund,  being  in  amount  proportionate  with  his  age.  his  calls  to  pay  death  losses  being  a  percentage  on 
that  amount,  makes  his  premium  in  proportion  to  the  balance  of  the  members,  equal  to  his  ex- 
pectancy of  life,  so  each  member  is  paying  always  the  just  and  proper  amount.  This  amount  makes 
up  the 

eeNepiT    f=uisd 

This  fund  is  e.xclusively  for  the  purpose  of  paying  to  the  designated  beneficiaries  the  amount 
belonging  to  them  on  the  death  of  a  member,  and  is  only  called  for  that  purpose,  and  is  only  .suffi- 
cient in  amount  to  meet  said  death  lo.s.ses,  and  provide  for  the  maximum  amount  at  risk  on  any 
three  members  in  advance. 

S\/RRLV/S     F=VJND 

This  fund  is  to  pav  death  losses  when  the  death  rate  shall  exceed  one  per  cent  in  any  one  year, 
or  10  deaths  to  the  1,000.  This  fund  is  made  up  of  all  guarantee  deposits  tliat  are  forfeited  to  this 
company,  and  from  a  1  interest  on  the  funds  of  said  company. 

Trt©     CONTINGENT     F=\^ND 

This  fund  is  composed  of  the  membership  fee,  which  is  50  per  cent  of  the  guarantee  amount  pai<l 
by  each  member  A  man  at  the  a  ^e  of  40  ye  irs  puts  Jio  into  this  fuml  for  every  Si. 000  of  insurance, 
at  the  same  time  he  puts  J2:j  into  the  guarantee  fund. 

TU^BTU^BERSHIR 

We  will  write  only  men.  and  between  the  ages  of  21  and  s.s  years,  always  reckoning  from  his 
nearest  birthday,  and  he  must  be  .sober,  industrious  and  of  good  moral  character,  and  must   not  be 
engaged  in  auv  hazardous  occupation,  or  in  the  sale  of  intoxicating  litiviors,  and  nuist  be  in  all 
respects  what  is  meant  by  the  word  a  "'  preferred  risk,"  which  is  the  watch  tower  of  this  ass\irance 
company, 

AMOUNT   OF  INSURANCE   LIMITKD. 

Age.  Highe.st  Am't. 

21  to  35      -     -     -     -     -     -     $5.00000 

,\S  to  45    -     -     -     -     -     -     -   4,000.00 

45  to  50      -     -     -     -     -     -      3,000.00 

50  to . "55    -     -     -     -     -     -     -    2.000.00 

ORRIC©RS 
President,  ARTHUR  O.  BEMENT, 

I'AMavor  lit  I/iusing,  Mich.,  and  I'residenl  of  K.  Hement  N:  Sons,  I/uising,  Mich. 
1st  Vice  President,  ROBERT  SMITH, 

State  Printer.  I.ansing.  Mich. 
2d  Vice  President,  EUGENE  A.  SUNDERLiN. 

Dep.itv  State  Hank  Commissioner,  Lansing,  Mich. 
Secretary  and  Manager,  IRA  E.  RANDALL, 

Lansing.  Mich. 
Treasurer,  J.  EDWARD  ROE, 

Cashier  Lansing  State  Savings  Hank,  Lansing.  Mich. 
Medical  Director,  HENRY  B.  BAKER,  H.  D., 

Secretary  State  Board  of  Health.  Lansing.  Mich. 
Legal  Director,  EDWARD  CAHILL, 

lv\-J>istice  of  Supreme  Court,  L.iusing.  Mich. 


ANNUAL     COST     ON     $t,ooo 

2,S  -  -  8.S.0O  .]'■  j.S.o,  i  50  -  -  VIO  00 

30       -  -  -  6.00  .15       -  -  -  y.cX)  .55       -  -  -  11.00 

35  -  -  700 

.\ctnal  results  on  six  deaths  per  i.ooci. 


THE    PREFERRED    BANKERS*    LIFE    ASSURANCE    CO., 

HOME,     OFFICE,     LflNSING,     MICHIGf\N. 


XXXVIII 


BOARD    OF    TRADE     BIJIL.DING, 
FORT  WORTH,  TEXAS, 

CONTAININC,      THK      OFFICKS      OI" 

Land  Mortgage  Bank  of  Texas,  Limited, 

Subscribed  Capital,  .  £750,000. 

Surplus,  .  .  £  60, con. 


HOME    OFFICE: 
LONDON,   ENGLAND. 


C.  H.  SILLIMAN,  AMERICAN   MANAGER, 
FORT    WORTH,    TEXAS 


Negotiates  Loans  Upon  Improved  Real  Estate  Anywhere  in  Texas. 

xxxix. 


OFFICERS    AND    DIRECTORS. 

JEFFERSON  RAYNOLDS,  President.  ALFRED  B.  SMITH,  Cashier. 

JOHN  W.  ZOLLARS,  Vice-President. 

JOSHUA  S.  RAYNOLDS.  A.  A.  JONES. 


•     •     •      111  L^    •     •    • 

First    National    Bank, 

Las  Vegas,  New  Mexico. 


CAPITAL    AND    SURPLUS, 


$125,000. 


New  iVfe.vioo  ftnd  Smithwestern  Collecftinns  a  Specialty 


CORRESPONDENCE    INVITED, 
xl 


p.  I.  BONEBRAKE,  President.  A.  S.  JOHNSON,  Vice-President. 

EDWIN  KNOWLES,  Cashier.  F.  M.  BONEBRAKE,  Asst.  Cashier. 


THE,  CENTRAL  NflTlONflL  BANK 


OF 


ToPEKA,   Kansas. 


CAPITAL, 


i*i2ijO,000 


DEALS    IN 

United  States  and   Municipal  Bonds 


DOES     A     GENERAL    BANKING    BUSINESS. 

xli 


THE  NATIONAL   EXCHANGE  BANK 


OF 


07^LL-7XS» 


PAID    UP    CAPITAL, 


$300,000. 


DALLAS,    TEXAS 


JOHN  N.  SIMPSON,  President. 

^\.  H.  (GASTON,  Yice-President. 

W.  H.  GETZENDANER,  2ud  Viee-Presideut. 
ROYAL  A.  FERRIS,  Cashier. 

R.  C.  AYRES,  Asst.  Casliier. 


Accounts  of  Banks,  Corporations  and   Individuals  Solicited. 


Ccllections  Made  on  all  Texas  Points  and  Remitted  at  Lowest 
Rates  of  Exchange. 

xlii 


THeSiPaul  National  Bank 

ST.    PAUL,    MINN. 


Capital 


S(!<K), OOO. 


OFl'ICKRS  : 

F.  W.  ANDERSON,  President.  A.  C.  ANDERSON,  Cashier. 

PHILIP  REILLY.  Vice  President.  VV.  B.  GEERY,  Assistant  Cashier. 

xliii 


TUG  NicollGi  National  Bank  ol  Minneapolis, 


rvlINNKSOTA. 


Capital  S500,000.     Surplus  and  Profits,  Sl()0,0(M>. 


Transacts    anv    Imsiiiess    consistent    with    kt^Mtiniate    bankini^. 


DIRECTORS. 

FI.  W.  BROWN.  C.  E.  WALES.  H.  ALDEN  SMITH.  A.  T.  RAND.  T.  B.  CAS;':Y 

J.  A.  BOHN.  R.  R.  RAND.  J.  F.  R.  FOSS. 


CORRESPONDENTS. 
NEW  YORK:  Merchants'   Kxchange  National  Bank. 

CHICA(i!0:  Continental  National  Bank.     Bank  of  Nova  vScotia. 
BOSTON  :  National  Bank  of  the  Commonwealth. 
IMIILADELPHIA:   1  irst  National  Bank. 


No  interest  paid  on    any   form   of   deposits    with    the  exception  of  accounts 
from  Ll.-inks  and  Bankers.     No  time  certificates  of  deposit  issued. 

SEND  US  YOUR  COLLECTIONS  ON 

Minneapolis,  St.  Paul  and  other  Points  of  the  Northwest. 


H.  W.  BROWN, 

President. 


F.  R.  FOSS, 
Vice-I'resident  nnd  Cashier. 


XMV 


American   National  Bank. 

LOUISVILLE,    KY. 


Capital 


$800,000  00 


J    H    LINDENBERGER.  President. 

LOGAN  C.  MURRAY,  Vice  Presid<?nt. 


CHAS.  WARREN.  Cashier. 

H.  C.  TRUMAN.  Asst.  Casiiier 


accounts  Of  ,li3nnl?!?  an^  .I6anl?cr^  received  on  favorable  tcrm^. 
Collection!?  on  all  ^lointti  a  iipccialtv!. 

xlv 


A-E- WING. 


DIRECTORS 

R  A    ALGER  H   MCAMPBELl. 

WCCOUBUR^^  WM.EL-LtOTT 

C    U   FREER  F  J    HECMER 

H.BLEDVARO  M  U  GM    M^  M  I  LLAh 

W.  C   M'  MILL  Ail  R   S.MASON 

R.W.GILLETT.  MENRV    RUSSEL 

OeO  H    RUSSEL  M   S    SMITH 

CMAS  STINCMFIELD 


CAPITAL  $  200.000. 
SURPLUS  $  I50.000- 

^HAMMOND  BUILDING.  ^ 

Cor  Fort  and 
Gnswold  Sheets 

COMMERCIALS  SAVINGS  HEPARTMENTS 


Xl\l 


THE 


J  UNION 

% 


m 


NATIONAL 
BANK 


OF    CHIGf\GO 


Was  organized  in  December,  1864,  succeeding  the  well-established  business  of 
W.  F.  Coolbaugh  &  Co.  It  immediately  took  the  front  rank  among  the  banks  of 
Chicago  and  the  Northwest,  the  high  standing  attained  by  its  first  president,  Mr.  \V. 
F.  Coolbaugh,  being  at  once  reflected  in  the  business  of  the  bank.  It  was  one  of  the 
earliest  organizations  in  the  national  banking  system,  and  was  organized  with  a 
paid  up  capital  of  |50o,ooo,  and  embraced  in  its  board  of  directors  some  of  the  lead- 
ing citizens  of  Chicago  and  New  York.  David  Dows,  of  New  York,  was  one  of  its 
organizers  and  directors,  and  continued  in  the  directory  during  the  remainder  of  liis 
lifetime.  Mr.  Coolbaugh  died  in  ICS77,  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  C.  T.  Wheeler,  who 
was  subsequenth-  succeeded  by  Mr.  W.  C.  D.  Grannis,  who  was  afterwards  followed 
b)-  Mr.  C.  R.  Cummings.  In  1890  Mr.  J.  J.  P.  Odeli  succeeded  to  the  presidency, 
after  having  served  as  cashier  and  vice-president  successively  from  iNSo  until  that 
period,  and  he  still  occupies  the  presidenc}'  and  managership  of  the  bank.  The 
capital  of  the  bank  was  increased  from  time  to  time,  until  in  1S86  it  was  raised  to 
|2, 000,000.  It  now  has  a  reserve  of  1500,000,  in  addition  to  its  capital,  and  has 
paid  continuous  dividends  to  its  stockholders.  It  has  extended  its  field  of  usefulness 
so  as  to  embrace  all  parts  of  the  commercial  world,  its  connections  reac  hing  the  far 
east  and  the  tlistant  west.  Its  board  of  directors  now  consist  of  tlu'  following 
gentlemen: 


DAVID  KELLEY 

J.  H.  BARKER 
S.  K.  MARTIN 
H.  N.   MAY 


O.   C.  BARBER 
D.    B.  DEWEY 
H.  H.  GETTY 
W.  T.   BAKER 


J.  W.   ELLSWORTH 
RICHARD    C.    LAKE 
J.  J    P.  ODELL 


xlvii 


THE   OilSCOrlSlH    HATIOHALi    BANK 


OF    miljUiRUKEE. 


CilMTAL, 
SURPLUS, 


81,000,000 
8100,000 


FREDK. 


r»AKST, 

President. 


CHARLES    BEST, 

Vice-President. 


FREDK.  KASTEN. 

Cashier. 


DIRECTORS. 

FREDK.  PABST.  A.  A.  L.  SHITH.  CHARLES  BEST.  EDWARD  BRADLEY. 

CHARLES   SCHRIBER.  F.  P.   MArTHI-:\VS.  PHILETI'S  SAWYER. 

Wn.  W.  ALLIS.  ROBERT  HILL.  DAVID    ADLER.  FREDK.   KASTEN. 

xlviii 


^\^^\.T^<^^^ 


e^ 


9*0 


CoWcct^^-^ 


«^R^' 


X  '  x 


Wisconsin  Marine  and  Fire  Insurance  Gonipanij  BanK, 

MILWfVUKBE,    WISCONSIN. 

KSTABLJSHED  183!». 


PAID  UP  CAPITAL, 


.S.)00,000 


GENERAL    BANKING    BUSINESS    DONE, 

INTEREST    PAID    ON    TIME    DEPOSITS 

We  solicit    accounts   of   Banks,  corporations,  firms   and    individuals,  and    promise 
to  g:ive  them  the  best  terms  and  most  careful  attention. 


DIRECTORS. 

WASHIXOTON   liKCKEH.  ANGUS  SMITH.  EDWARD  1'.   BACON.  GEORGE  HII.ES. 

ALFRED  JAMES.  JOHN  L.  MITCHEM,.  SAMI.  McCORD. 

WM.  H.  HRADLEY.  JOHN  JOHNSTON. 


WASHINCiToN  I5ECKER, 

•  'resident. 


OFFIC&RS. 
JOHN  ]..  MITCHELL, 

Vice-President. 


JOHN  JOHNSTON. 

Cashier. 


THE  NATIONAL  BANK  OF  COMMERCE 


TACOmA,   WASH. 


Capital 

CHESTER  THORNE.  President 
L.    W.   ROYS,  Vice-President 


S200,000 


EDWARD    MUGGINS.  2d  Vice-President 
J.  W.  WALLACE.  Casiiier 


Transacts  a  General  Banking  Business,  and  will  cheerfully  answer  all  incjuiries 
concerning  Tacoma,  Seattle  or  the  State  of  Washington.  Have  unsurpassed  facilities 
for  making  collections. 

li 


OQanafacturers    ISiational    Bank 

OF  PACINE:,  WISCONSIN. 
Capital    and    Undivided    Earnings,    8400,000. 

Savings  Department.     Affords  all  the  advantages  of  the  best  Savings  Banks  in  the  country.     Interest 

,;  per  ctnt.  per  aunnni  on  deposits  left  three  months,  according  to  the  rules. 
Investment  Securities.     The  Bank  keeps  on  hand  a  choice  supply  of  Bonds,  which  will  be  sold  to 

customers  who  desire  to  realize  a  larger  interest  than  Banks  allow. 
Foreign  Exchange  and  Letters  of  Credit.     Furnished  at  lowest  New  York  rates  and  availalile  in  all 

parts  ofthe  world. 
Passports.     Procured  from  the  State  Department  at  Washington  for  those  going  abroad. 
Ocean  5teamsliip  Tickets.     By  Cunard.  White  Star,  Anchor  and  principal  steamship  lines  for  sale  at 

lowest  Xe'v  York  rates. 
Domestic  Exchange.     Drafts  available  throughout  the  United  States  and  Canada,  in  small  or  large 

amounts. 

Collections.     Special  care  and  attention  given  to  collections  at  home  and  abroad. 
Your  banking  business  respectfully  solicited, 

STKPHKX  BULL,   President. 
JOHN"  S.  CLEMENT.  Asst  Cashier.  E.  J.  HUEFFXKR,  Yice-President. 

EDWARD  B.  KILBOURN,  Paying  Teller.  B.  B.  NORTHROP,  Cashier. 

EDWARD  W.   RAPPS,   Receiving  Teller. 


Report  Made  to  the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  upon  his  first  call  for  1895,  showing 
condition  of  the  bank  at  the  close  of  business. 

7VVKRCH     5.     1B95. 


RESOURCES 

Loansand  Bills  Discounted S978,633  58 

Overdrafts    1,360  !»4 

United  States  Bonds  at  Washington  to  secure  Circulation  50,000  (10 

Railwav,  Citv  and  County  Bonds i»9,849  59 

Banking  House,  44u  Main  Street 15,00O  00 

Due  from  United  States  Treasurer,  5  percent.  Redemption  Fund 2,350  00 

Due  from  I'nited  States  Treasurer,  other  than  above SS5,000  00 

Due  from  National  and  State  Banks 1«>3,552  92 

Ca.shon  hand  in  Yault 146,004  58 

313,557  50 


$1,460,651  61 
LIABILITIES 

Capital  Stock !S250,000  00 

Surplus  Fund,  4fi  per  cent,  of  Capital  100, OOO  00 

Undivided  Profits,  less  E.xpen.ses  and  Taxes  paid 77,<;92  62 

Circulating  Notes  outstanding 45,000,00 

Individual  Deposits !$524,536  71 

Demand  Certificates  of  Deposit 454,4,'>9  04 

Due  Banks  and  Bankers 8,963  •.♦4 

987,958  9!» 

ST.\TE  OF   WISCONSIN,  I  »1,460,651^I 

County  OK   Racine,       ( 

I,  B.  B.  Northrop.  Cashier  of  the  above  named  bank,  do  solemnly  swear  that  the  above  statement 
is  true  to  the  best  of  my  knowled,ge  and  belief  '  B.  B.  NORTH  ROP,  Cashier. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  n:e  this  9th  dav  of  March,  \S9^. 
Correct  .attest:  EDW.\RD  B.   KILBOURN,  Notary- Public,   - 

JOSEPH  MILLER,  I  Racine  Countv. 

().   \V.  JOHNSON,  -Directors. 


E     J.    HUEFFNER, 


DIRECTORS     189>5. 

STEPHEN    BULL.      President,    Manufacturers    National    Bank    of  Racine.       President.  J.   I.    C  ise 

Threshing  Machine  Co.     President,  Milwaukee  Harvester  Co. 
JACKSON   I,  CASE.     President,  Bank  of  Burlington,  Wi.s,     President,  J,  I,  Case  Plow  Works,     Presi- 

<k  nl.  Itelk  Citv  Street  Railw:iy  Compriny.     Mayor  of  the  City  of  Racine. 
CHARLES  E    ERSKINE.     Cai)italist 
ALKjLlST  C.  PRANK,     Capitalist. 
WILLIAH   HORLICK.     President,  Horlick's  Food  Co.    Presi.leiit.  Malted  Milk  Co.     Presi<lent  Horlicks 

Investment  Co. 
ERNST  J.   HUEFFNER.      Dealer   in    Hides   and   Leather,     Vice-President,    Manufacttirers    National 

Bank  of  Racine. 
OTIS  W.  JOHNSON.     I'resident,    First    National    Bank    of    St.    Ignace,    Mich.      Vice-President.    I-ish 

Bros.  Wagon  Company, 
JOSEPH   niLLER.      l'resi<Unt,  J.  Miller  Compaiiv,  Manufacturers   of   Boots   and   Shoes.       President. 

Kaciui   N.iil  lV  Tack  Co.     President,  Chic.i'gi>  K\tbber  Clothing  Co.  of  Racine. 
BYRON   B    NORTHROP.     Cashier,  Manufacturers  National  Bank  of  Racine,  Wis. 

lil 


I 


^.r 


UNITED    STATES    DEPOSITARY. 

.     .     .     THE     .     .     . 

FIRST   NATIONAL   BANK 

....  OF  ...   . 


DETROIT,    MICHIGAN. 


D. 


M.  FERRY,  President.  EMORY  WENDELL,  Pres.  Pro  Tempore. 

L.  E.  CLARK,  Vice-President.  JOHN  T.  SHAW,  Cashier. 

DIReCTORS. 


EDWI.V  S.  HAKIiorR. 

I'rtsideiit  Dt-troit  Stove  Works. 
LORHNZo  K.  CL.\RK,  Vice-President. 
WM.  C.  McMlI.I.AX. 

Maiiatriiii;  Director  MicliiKaii-I'ciimsnl  ir 
Car  Co. 
HON.  J.AMKS  MCMILLAN, 

riiited  States  Senator. 


HON.  GKO.  V.  N.  LOTHROI',  Lawyer. 
KMORY  WKNDKLL,  I're.sidcnt  Pro  Tempore. 
HON.  DON  .M.  DICKINSON, 

of  Dickinson,  Tlnirl)er  &  Stevenson, 
.\ttoreys. 
WILLIAM  J.  CHITTKNDEN, 

of   Chittenden   it   McCreary,    Proprietors  of 
the  "Russell  House." 

1).  M.  I"I-:RKV.  President. 

This  Bank  will  receive  the  accounts  and  collections  of  Banks,  Bankers.  Corporations. 
Firms  and  Individuals,  and  will  give  prompt  and  careful  attention  to  any  business 
entrusted  to  us.     Correspondence  solicited. 

liii  y 


DENVER    NATIONAL    BANK, 

DENVER,    COL. 

Capital $500,000 

Surplus      - -       150,000 

J.  A.  THATCHER,  President  G.  B.  BERGER,  Cashier 

J.  B.  GRANT,  Vice  President  E.  S.   IRISH,  Assistant  Cashier. 

J.   W.  HUDSTON,  2d  Assistant  Cashier. 

liv 


jnEHERCH ANTS  NATIONAL  BANK, 


HELENPC,     7VYONT. 

UNITED  5TATES  DEPOSITORY. 


Paid  in  Capital 

Surplus  and  Undivided  Profits 


$350,000 
170,000 


L.  H.   HERSHFIELD,  President  A.  J.  DAVIDSON,  Vice  President 

T.  P.  BOWMAN,  Assistant  Cashier 


Kxchange  sold  on  the  principal  cities  of  the  I'nited  States  and  Europe.  Prompt  attention  given 
to  collections.  Issues  letters  of  credit.  Transfers  of  nionev  made  bv  telegraph.  Accounts  of  banks, 
firms  and  individuals  solicited. 


J.  H    McC.RAW, 

I'rL-si(k-iit. 


FIRST    Nf^TIONf\L    Bf\NK. 


MAIRICK  Mc\\llCKl-;.\.  I.l'lSTlvR  'ITRXKR. 

A'icc-I'rcsidciil.  Cashier. 


FIRST    NATIONAL    BANK 

OF  SEATTLE,  WASHINGTON. 


Cnjiitnl 
UtnJl\'itloil  I'riiflts 


Inquiries  regarding  Seattle  and  Washington  Investments  answered  with  pleasure. 

]vi 


SECURITY    NATIONAL    BANK, 

SIOUX    CITY,    IOWA. 


Capital 
Surplus 


$250,000. 
50,000. 


W.  P.  MANLEY.  President 
C    L    WRIGHT.  Vice  President 


F.  M.  CASE,  Cashier 

F.  C.  SWAN,    Assistant  Cashier 


CORRESPONDENCE     INX'ITED 


ivii 


BanK. 


KflNSftS  CITY.  MO. 


Cf\PITf\L 


S500,000 


OFFICERS 


S    B.  ARMOUR,  President. 


W.   H.  WINANTS,  Vice-President. 


L.  E.  PRINDLE,  Cashier. 


DIRECTORS 


S.  B.  ARMOUR, 

President  Armour  Packius^  Co. 
GKO.  H.  NETTLETON, 

Prest.  Kansas  City,  Ft.  Scott  &  Memphis  Rv 
W.  W.   KENDALL, 

Prest.  W.  W.  Kendall  Boot  &  Shoe  Co. 
JOHN  R.   MULV^NP:, 

Prest.  Bank  of  Topeka,  Kas. 
Cip;o.  AV.  FULLER, 

Secv.  and  Treas.  John  Deere  Plow  Co. 
KICHAKD  H.   KPUTH, 

Prest.  Central  Coal  &  Coke  Co. 


A.  R.  mevp;r, 

Prest.  Kansas  Citv  vSnieltins;  &.  Refining  Co. 
K.  B.  ARMOUR, 

Vice-I'rest.  Armour  Packing  Co. 

A.  F.  sawyf;r, 

Pt.  Chrisman-Sawver  Bks:.  Co.,  Independence.  Mo. 

g.-\rdinf:r  lathrop. 

Of  Lathrop,  Morrow,  Fox  &  Moore,  .\ttvs. 
F.  W.  SCHULTE, 

Probst  Con.struction  Co.    Cliicago,  111. 
CHARLES  A.   MURDOCK, 

Prest.  C.  A.  Murdock  Mfg.  Co. 


W.   H.   WINANTS,  Vice-Presiceut. 


OONDENSeO      STT^TeTVTENT 

Ol-    TIIK    CONDITION    OK    THIi     :MII)I..\N1)     N.^TIONAL    B.\XK,     OF     K.\NS.\S    CiTV,    MO.,    .\T     TlllC     CI-OSIC 

or    lU'SINICSS,    M.\KCII    5,    1S95, 


Resource.s 

Loans         ...        -        - 

$2 

146,015.70 

Overdrafts                               .        .        . 

5.9''*o-75 

U.  S.  Bondsaiicl  l'irnii\nns     - 

64,218.75 

Redemption  Pund         .         .         .         . 

2,250.00 

Other  Stocks  and  Bonds 

aoo,  747.95 

Real  I-vst;ite,  iMirnilure  and  Fi.xtures 

1 18,407.82 

Cash  and  Sight  Exchange     - 

I 

;,S7,.';vi.ig 

Liabilities 

Ca])ital  Stock      .         -  -         .        J    500,000.00 

Surplus  and  Undivided  Profits,  less 
E.xpenses  and  Taxes  Paid  -        -  58,630.99 

Circulation 45,000,00 

Deposits — Individual        si, 469, 244.07 
Banks  -        -      1,871,977,10 

;„54i,22i.l7 


53,924,852. 16 
I  certify  that  the  above  is  correct. 

/,.   li.   I'lilSni.ti,  C^imlilcr 


$3,924.,S52.i6 


I  VI I  I 


JOHN  A.   KIXC,   President. 

lOHN   H.   WITHHCK.   Vic- -I'resickiit. 


L.  A    CODDAKI),  Cashier. 

\\"M.   COX     .\sst  C:isliiir 


Fori  DearDorn  Naiionai  BanK. 

UNITED  STATES  DEPOSITORY. 


SURPLUS 


lOO.OOO 


S.   W.  CORNER  MONROE  AND  CLARK  STREETS, 

CHI07XG0. 


hx 


l(iO.OO«» 


„.,V.V  .     HOUUST..^.  ^  ^ 


BAR 


NETT 


HO 


j^^NlESNl     B«-^^ 


DENf 


CLAV    H.    *^"'-^ssT     C 


^^?irC.SH,CB,  J 


\W.    B 


ABNHABJ'        oENT 


V\CE' 


pBESI 


,'V%'^»^ 


-^^ 


^^.•/•^•/•^^ 


•.^/•/^^ 


l\ 


JOHN   PAUL.   President.  GEO.  W.   BURTON,  Cashier. 

W.   W.   CARGILL,  Vice-President  F     H.    HANKERSON,  Asst.   Cashier. 

TI16  La  Crosse  Naiionai  BanK. 

LA  CROSSE,  WISCONSIN. 


Capital 

Surplus  and  Profits 


$200,000 

100,000 


DIRECTORS 


JOHN   I'Ari..  n.   H.  HEAI.V.  I.   a.   MiiUI.TON.  CHAS.  MICHKL 

C-..   K.   MoNTACilE.  F.   r.   HlXnX.  \V.   W.  CAKCH,!,. 

JOHN  PAMl-KKIN.  GKO.   W.   HfKToN. 


IXl 


GEORGE    BAUMAN,   Prest.  J.  H.  JENKIN:?,  Vice  Prest. 

R.  B.   EVANS,  Cashier. 


Zbe 


(3crman   H^ational  IBmxk 

OSHKOSH,  WISCONSIN. 


CAPITAL 
SURPLUS 


$1  <)(>,()()<> 
1  ()<>,(><)<) 


C   W.    WASMIURN 
J.   H.  JKNKINS 
Gl-;0.    HAUMAN 
K.   H.    J(JSSI,YN 


DIR&GTORS 

li.  C.  (UDDKN 

K    li.    HVAX> 

J.   Y.   Hl'M, 

I).  C.   lU'CKSTAl'l- 

Ixii 


F.  J.  HARHEK 
R.  C.  RrSSELI. 

G.  H.  GILE 
JULIUS  MARTIN 


The  Farmers  and  Mechanics  National  Bank, 

FORT   WORTH,  TEXAS. 


Capital 
Surplus 


$400,000 
40.000 


J.  W.  SPENCER,  President.  H.  W  .  WILLIAMS,  Vice-President. 

BEN  O.  SniTH,  Cashier 

Ixiii 


FIRST    NATIONAL    BANK, 

OMAHA,    NEBRASKA. 


Capital 
Surplus 


$500,000 
100,000 


HERHAN  KOUNTZE,  President.  F.  H.  DAVIS,  Cashier. 

J.   A.  CRKIfiHTON,  Vice-President.  W.  H.  nEOQUIER,  Asst.  Cashier. 

Ixiv 


O.  T.  CRA1,  Pr.sident 

N.  O.  NELSON,  Vice-President 


T.  A.  5TODDART,  Cashier 

J.  R.  COOKE,   Asst.  Cashier 


THIRD    NATIONAL    BANK, 

ST.    LOUIS.    MO. 

Capital,  $1,000,000.  Surplus  and  Profits,  300,000. 


IX  V 


Andrews' 

Desks,  Best  in  the  World. 

NOTHING  ABOUT     M  lir  ■  Q    EXCEPT  THEIR 
THEM  UnCAr  PRICE 


New  Departilre  ^ssri^o^v'  ^^^^t 

m 


THIS  PESK(|)I 

'  Others  Pioportionally  Low    "■ 

ODR  SPECIALTY 

BANK  AND  OFFICE   FIXTURES 

IP  Typewriter 

1^^        Chair 

Adjustable  seat  &  spring  back 


15 

4\  A.H.ANDREWS&CO. 

^  215  Wabash  Av.  CHICAGO 


Oiiiana  sate  and  iron  worKs. 

G.     AJMDf^EEJvi,     PpoprietoP, 

INIAXUFACTrKEK   Ol-* 

FIRE  PROOF  SHUTTERS,  WIRE  WORK, 

Anchors  and  Wrought  Iron  Work  for  Buildings, 

FIRE     ESCMPBS. 

DIebold  Safe  and  Lock  Co. 

BANK  WORK  A  srECIALTY.  CORRESPONDENCE  SOLICITED. 

Opening-  and  Repairing:  Safes  and  General  Job  Work  Promptly  Done. 

ON\f\fAf\,    NEB. 

Ixvi 


STATE    OF    11,1  INdlS 


WESTERI^ 

BAi^lK  NOTE 

COmPRNY 


FIRE    PROOF   BUILDING 

madison   St.    and 

JVIiehigan    Ave 


CHICAGO 


Steel  Plate  and  liithographic 
Engraving  and  Printing 


BONDS 

FOR     J^AIIiLUAYS,     TOWNS     AJ^D     CITIES,    REALi     ESTATE 

BONDS,      STREET     RAILiWAYS,      WATER- 

U40RKS,    GAS    COmPANIHS 


CePtifieates   of   Stock,    Dnafts,    Cheeks,    Uetter   and    Bill 
Headings,   Ete.,   for 

Hailuiays,   Banks,    mepehants    and    Corporations 

Bonds  and  other  Securities  Engraved  by  this  Company  Accepted 
on  the  New  York  5toci<  Exchanjte 

C.    C.   CHENEY,   President 

C.   fl.    CHAPCnnN,    Vise-President 

C.    HEINBMAN,    Searetory 

Ixvii 


NW  HARRIS 
&  C2MPAN  Y 


s. 


BANKERS 

im  mMMom  sidiHincA©® 

MEWY®1K 


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Mir  AK©  SOIIE)  b'(f   D"^   b"(/   ^^c  t^v 


nMriEi¥i[]BW§ 


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All  bonds  offered  our  clients  for  invest- 
ment have  been  purchased  outright  with 
our  own  funds,  after  a  searchin<<  investiga- 
tion into  their  security  and  legality.  No 
investment  is  offered  a  client  which  has  not 
first  been  accepted  for  ourselves,  a  point,  in 
view  of  the  countless  offerings  of  securities 
on  the  market,  which  the  discriTuinating 
investor  will  appreciate. 


u 


Ixviii 


Edwards  Whitaker  Charles  Hoogmin 

WHITAKER  &  HODGMAN, 
Bond  and  Stock  Brokers 

300    N.    Fourth    St., 
ST.     LOUIS,     MO., 

Deal  in   First-class  Investment  Securities  and  High  Grade 
Commercial  Paper, 

MONTHLY  ClflCULIR  QUOTING  LOML  SECURITIES  MAILED  ON  APPLICHTION. 


I  XIX 


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:ST«Bl_ISHED      I3&2. 


Wells,  Fargo  &Co;s 

Bf\NK 


San  pFaneiseo,  Cal 


JOHN  J.  VALENTINE,  President.  H.  WADSWORTH,  Cashier. 

HOMER  S.  KING,  Manay:er.  F.  L.  Lipman.  Asst.  Cashier 


BJ^flHCHES:  NEUl    YORK  -  H.    B.    PARSONS,    Cashier. 

SflliT   LiAKE     -  -       U.    E.    Dooly,  Cashief. 


A  General  Banking  Business  Transacted. 

Domestic  and  Foreign  Exchange  Bought  and  Sold. 

Travelers'  and  Commercial  Credits  Issued,  available  m  all  p^arts  of  the  world. 
Bullion  and  Mexican  Dollars  Bought  and  Sold. 

Collections  Made  promptly  and  economically. 
Accounts  Received  on   Favorable  Terms. 
Correspondence  Invited. 


GorresnondeiiTs  in  all  the  nrincipal  cities  ot  the  world. 


STKTE7VYENT     OF=     CONDITION 


I)l-:CHMliF 

K    31.   iS<),|, 

ASSETS 

LIABILITIE«? 

Real  Kstate 

5    793.055-4S 

Capital  i)aid  in 

~    500,000.00 

Uoiiils,  Stocks  and  Warraiil.-* 

987,295.49 

Surplus    - 

5,750,00000 

Furniture  and  Fi.xtures    - 

25.'^45-29 

Undivided  Profits  - 

563,792.04 

Loan.s       -           .           .           . 

7.110.317.SJ 

Deposits,  Banks  and  Bankers 

l,l28.Si6.l6 

Due  from  Hanks  and  Uanktrs 

66,1,530.82 

Deposits.  Individual 

3.589,382.71 

Cash  on  hand     - 

1. 950. '-46. 00 

Si  1.531.1,90.91 

$11,531,999.91 

Ixxi 


INDEX  TO  PORTRAITS 


PART   ONE 


PAGE. 

Bull,  Stephen 29 

Cannon,  H.  W 21 

Carlisle,  John  G  7 

Casady,  P.  M 16 

Chick,  J.  S 36 

Cope,  George  F 57 

Durham,  R.  L 37 

Floornoy,  M.  W 40 

Furth,  Jacob 44 

Gage,  Lyman  J 9 

Groce,   T.  J .\^ 

Hershfield,  L.   H 56 

Hood,  C 24 

Joralmon,  H.  M 61 

Kountze,  Herman 13 

Lacey,  E.  S...     12 

Lindenberger,  J.  H 25 


McGraw,  J.  H 45 

Moffat,  D.  H 48 

Murray,  Logan  C 32 

Nelson,  L.  C 20 

Nixon ,  Robert  M 17 

Odell,  J.  J.  P 10 

Ottley,  John  K 65 

Rotan,    E    28 

Raj-nolds,  Joshua  S 49 

Raynolds,  Jeffer  on 52 

Silliman,  C.  H 68 

Simpson,  J.  N 41 

Thatcher,   M.  D 60 

Valentine,  John  J 8 

Wilson,  Medford  B 64 

Zollars,  John  W 53 


PART  TWO 


PAGE. 

Abbott,  George  A 70 

Baker,  Henry  B 96 

Bement,  Arthur  O  96 

Best,  Chas..  90 

Bissel,  Arthur  D 35 

Bump,  Orrin 31 

Burton,  S.  S 88 

Cahill,  Edward 96 

p;nglish,  Jas.  W 25 

Evans,  R.  B 78 

Gates,  L.  M 43 

Goddard,  L.  A 93 

Hackley,  C.  H 73 

Hammond,  Clartnce  W 39 

Harris,  N.  W 94 

Hayes,  F.  W 55 

Hayes,  W.  J 29 

Hills,  C.  T 76 

Hixon,  G.  C 86 


PAGE. 

HoUister,   H.J 64 

Jobes,  A.  C.  23 

Judd,  E.  T 98 

Kasten,  Frederick 49 

King,  John  A 82 

O'Brien,  Herbert  L 6r 

Pabst,  Fred'k 58 

Randall,  Ira  E 96 

Roe,  J.  Edward 96 

Rowley,  F.  N 46 

Russel,  Geo.  H 21 

Smith,  Robert 96 

Sullivan,  J.J 27 

Simderlin,  Eugene  A 96 

Thatcher,  J.  A 52 

Warner,  Willard  Forester 7 

Warren,  Charles 19 

Wendell,  Emory 92 

White,  A    E.  F 67 


IXXll 


J.  N.  ROACH,  President 

C.  W.  BROWN,  Vice-President 


A.  C.  JOBES,  Cashier 

J.  A.  DAVISON,  Asst.  Cashier 


KflNSflS  NIlTIONflL  BANK 

Capital,  $100,000. 

WICHITA,    KANS. 


in 


We  solicit  the  accounts  of  imiividuals.  firms,  corporations,  hanks  and  hankers  on  terms  as 
liberal  as  would  be  consistent  with  safe  and  conservative  bankinji.  We  transact  an  exchisive  cotn- 
niercial  banking  business,  and  are  always  in  the  market  for  hijih  grade  commercial  and  cattle 
feeders"  paper.  Personal  interviews  and  correspondence  with  a  view  to  forming  Inisiness  relations 
re(iuesled.     All  letters  promptly  answered.     Special  and  careful  attention  given  to  collections. 

Kespectfnllv. 

A.  C.  JOHKS.  Cashier. 

Ixxiii 


INDEX  TO  ADVERTISEMENTS 

American  National  Bank Louisville,   Ky xlv 

American  Trust  &  Banking  Co Atlanta,  Ga iii 

Andrews,  A.  H.  &  Co ..  Chicago,  111 Ixvi 

Bankers'  National  Bank Chicago,    111 xxxiv 

Capital  National  Bank Indianapolis,  Ind ix 

Central  National  Bank Cleveland,  O v 

Central  National  Bank  of  Topeka,  Kansas xli 

Commercial  National  Bank Portland,   Ore Ixx 

Denver  National  Bank Denver,   Colo  liv 

Des  Moines  Savings  Bank Des  Moines,  Iowa viii 

Dulutli  Clearing  House  Association Duluth,  Minn xxxvii 

Emporia  National  Bank Emporia,  Kan xvi 

Fidelit}'  Trust  Co Tacoma,  Wash xxxii 

First  National  Bank All)uquerque,  N.    M xxiv 

First  National  Bank Butte,    Mont xlix 

First  National  Bank  of  Chicago,  111 xxxiii 

First  National  Bank..  Denver,  Colo xix 

First  National  Bank  of  Detroit,  Mich liii 

First  National  Bank '. East  Saginaw,  Mich x 

First  National  Bank  of  El  Paso,  Texas  xxx 

First  National  Bank Helena,  Mont  xviii 

First  National  Bank Kalamazoo,  IVIich ii 

First  National  Bank Las  Vegas,   N.  M xl 

First  National  Bank Omaha,  Neb Ixiv 

First  National  Bank  of  Pueblo,  Colo xxvi 

First  National  Bank Seattle,  Wash Ivi 

First  National  Bank  of  Buchanan  Co.. .St.  Joseph,  Mo xiii 

First  National  Bank Trinidad,  Col xxvii 

First  National  Bank Waxahachie,    Texas xxii 

First  National  Bank Waco,  Texas vi 

Fifth  .National  Bank  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio xxviii 

Farmers' &  Mechanics  National  Bank.. Fort  Worth,  Texas Ixiii 

Fort  Dearborn  National  Bank Chicago,  111 lix 

Galveston  National  Bank Galveston,  Texas xiv 

German  National  Bank Oshkosh,  Wis Ixii 

Hackley  National  Bank Muskegon,  Mich..         xxxv 

Harris,  N.  W.  &  Co.,  Bankers Chicago,  111 Ixviii 

Hayes,  W.  J.  &  Sons Cleveland  and  Bo^ton i 

Hoge,  Brownlee  &  Co Butte  City,  Mont.. xx 

Home  National  Bank  of  Arkansas  City,  Kansas xv 

Inter  State  National  Bank Kansas  City,  Mo xxiii 

Joralmon  &  Co Denver,  Col xxv 

Kansas  National  Bank Wichita,  Kansas..  Ixxiii 

Kleybolte,  Rudolph  &  Co Cincinnati,  O         xvii 

Land  Mortgage  Bank  of  Texas,    Ltd... Fort  Worth,  Tex  s xxxix 

La  Crosse  National  Bank Lacrosse,  Wis Ixi 

Manufacturers'  National  Bank  of  Racine,  Wis Hi 

Merchant's  National  Bank  of  Helena,  Mont Iv 

Midland  National  Hank Kansas  City,  Mo Iviii 

Mis.souri  National  Bank Kansas  Citv,  Mo vii 

National  Bank  of  C<jnimcrce Tacoma,  Wash li 

National  Bank  of  Commerce Seattle,  Wash xxxi 

National  Exchange  Bank  of  Dallas,  Texas xlii 

Nicollet  National  Bank  of  Minnea])olis.  Muin xliv 

Old  National  Bank  of  Grand  Rapids,  Midi  Ix 

Old  Second  National  Bank  at  Bay  City,  Mich xi 

Omaha  Safe  &  Iron  Works Ixvi 

Oklahoma  National  Bank Oklahoma  Citv,  O.  T xxi 

Peoj.le's  Bank  of  Buffalo,  N.  V .'. iv 

Preferred  Bankers'  Life  Assurance  Co.. Lansing.  Mich xxxviii 

Preston  National  Bank Detroit,  Mich xxxvi 

Puget  Sound  National  Bank ..  Seattle,  Wash xxix 

Security  National  Bank Siou.x   City,  In Ivii 

St.  Louis  National  Bank St.  Louis,  Mo xii 

St.  Paul  National  Bank vSt.  Paul,  Minn xliii 

State  Savings  Bank Detroit,  Mich xlvi 

Third  National   Bank St    Louis,  Mo Ixv 

Union  National  Bank  of  Chicago,  111  xlvii 

Wells,  Fargo  6c  Co.'sBank San  Francisco,  Cal Ixxi 

Western  Bank  Note  Co.  of  Chicago,  111 Ixvii 

Whitaker  &  Hodgman St.  Louis,  Mo  Ixix 

Wiscon.sin  Marine  &  Fire  In.s.  Co.'s  Bank,  Milwaukee,  Wis.. 1 

Wiscou.sin  National  Bank  of  Milwaukee,  Wis xlviii 

Ixxiv  'P 


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